Teen Titans: The Missing Sixth Season (Aniversary Edition!)
by Aaron Ledgers
Summary: Life became peaceful when the world was saved for the last time... but now the Titans are back in action, and something big is about to happen. Two musical twins with godly powers, terrible pasts, and a bond that runs much deeper than blood have arrived in Jump City. Will they bring new life or will they unleash unholy destruction like a certain fallen Earth Titan? BB/OC & Raven/OC
1. Prologue: Trouble Comes in Pairs

**TEEN TITANS: THE MISSING SIXTH SEA****SON **

"To mark the twelfth anniversary of this story, I am completely rewriting it and publishing it with added content. All grammatical and spelling errors will be completely fixed as I go, and the other things I missed in later chapters will be properly explained. After this is over, the story will bloom into the masterpiece it was meant to be, and I will begin writing the Seventh Season of TT. Hopefully... my plan for hiring the producers of Warner Bros. and DC Comics will go through, and they'll use my ideas for screenwriting. If anybody wants to have an OC they made possibly appear on Television, send me a description in a private message and I might possibly find a way to intertwine your individual characters into later chapters... or 'episodes.' I'd prefer to leave the review section alone when it comes to OC descriptions, please: I'm sorta vain and I enjoy reading the reviews, criticism, and compliments my story gets."**  
**

**As of right now, I claim no rights to DC comics, Warner Bros., or any of the Teen Titans characters, other than my personal OC's and the writing you are thus reading. The same goes for anyone who's OC ends up in the story later on.  
Enjoy, and I hope I get some good reviews since this project could very well put TT back on television.**

**(or at the very least, back in stores with more episodes)**

**Yours Truly, Aaron Ledgers**

_When there's trouble you know who to call: Teen Titans!_

_From their Tower they can see it all: Teen Titans!_  
_When there's evil on the attack, you can rest knowing they've got your back!_  
_'Cause when the world needs heroes on Patrol... Teen Titans Go!_

_"With their superpowers they unite: Teen Titans!_  
_Never met a villain that they liked: Teen Titans!_  
_They've got the bad guys on the run! They never stop 'till the job gets done!_  
_'Cause when the world is losing all control... Teen Titans Go!_

_"One! Two! Three! Four! GO TEEN TITANS!"_

**Completely Re-written and edited by Aaron Ledgers  
****Dedicated to: Any Lingering Teen Titans fans**

* * *

**Prologue: Trouble Comes in Pairs**

The sun was shining brightly above the desert-like Canyon resting just outside of Jump City, California: the sky was blue and the air was warm, giving the inhabitants of the area a lulling sense that nothing could go wrong. On such a beautiful day, it was almost believable... in fact, the very wind seemed to be whispering false promises that everything would be okay. However, nobody was aware that something horrible was already occurring... or even that it was something so bad that it was about to rock the entire city.

"Get away from us!" a high-pitched voice shrieked, shattering the silence of the canyon. "Stop! Stop chasing us! Go away!"

Down in the sandstone chasm, a set of identical blondes were sprinting towards the city with their fists pumping and their blonde hair flying. The smaller of the blondes—the girl—covered her face with a cry of fright when a dark shape tackled her from behind and attempted to drag her to the ground; almost instantaneously, the huskier of the blondes—the boy—leapt forward and dragged the assailant off by the throat before gripping his twin's small hand and pulling her through the narrowing cliffs.

Clutching each other's hands with frantic expressions, the twins bolted at top speed towards the metropolis.

They were desperate to reach the safety of the gleaming city... for they honestly believed that their last hope for survival was resting among the towering buildings: their breathing was ragged, their clothes were filthy and torn, and blood was trickling from the gashes that had somehow ended up on their bodies. However, the twins were alive and that was all that mattered: they had nearly been killed multiple times, and that's why they needed to get away... needed to escape the robots that had pursued them for months under the orders of _Him.  
_

They needed help.

Their shoulder-length blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight as they sprinted towards the metropolis with their fingers interlaced, billowing behind them like two clouds of pale gold. Their electric blue eyes were huge and their pupils were dilated, causing their irises to glitter like sapphires in the surreal light of the canyon. The twins were terrified of their inhuman pursuers because, if they failed to escape now, they would be doomed to a life full of darkness.

"Now, now," a male voice chuckled, making both blondes turn white. "I thought I told you to play nice..."

When_ He_ suddenly dropped down from a cliff and landed directly in front of the twins, both blondes let out nearly identical shrieks and skidded on the sand, frantically attempting to whirl around and run away: too late, he grabbed the slender arms of both adolescents and jerked them backwards. His silver eye narrowed sadistically behind his black and orange mask as he twisted the blonde girl's wrist behind her back and forced her down on her knees; then he did the same to her brother, who grit his teeth and snarled like an animal. The man's metallic armor pressed against their backs as he leaned forward and brought his lips close to the girl's ear.

She flinched when he chuckled lowly, shivering all over.

"Go away! Leave us alone!" the blonde girl whined, letting out another squeak when he twisted her arm. "Ow! Stop, that hurts!"

"Stop chasing us!" the blonde boy spat, yelping in pain when his wrist was twisted further. "OW! Stop, stop! You're breaking my arm!"

"Stop!" the girl wailed, tossing her shoulder-length hair out of her vibrant blue eyes. "You're hurting us!"

"Then you shouldn't have tried running away from me, _Angel,"_ Slade sneered, cocking his head and letting out a chuckle when the rest of his robots caught up. "It's time to go back to the facility. You never should have gotten out: that was a lapse of judgement on my part, but I guarantee that it will never happen again until you are ready to serve me and become my apprentices."

"Never! And her name isn't Angel!" the blonde boy snapped, tensing his shoulders when the man ran a finger across his neck; the feeling of another male putting his hands on him like this was revolting. "Just because we're not—gack!—humans doesn't mean you have to call us by our—gah!—race! And stop doing that already! It's—ack!—it's wrong! Seriously, stop it!"

"I'll call you whatever I want, _Angel,"_ Slade hissed, bringing his masked face close to the blonde boy's ear. "I'll _do_ whatever I want, too... even if it means taking your freedom, taking your life, or taking the very essence of your soul. You two belong to me, and there is nothing… you can do… to _change_ that. You are _mine."_

"We're not your property, you psycho! We never were, so leave us alone! You never saved Maki!" the girl snapped, but she winced and let out a terrified squeak when he pressed the bladed staff against her throat instead; a thin trickle of blood slid down her neck, staining her shirt even more than it was. "S-stop it! OW!"

"You will be my apprentices," he chuckled darkly, shoving the twins forward onto the sand. The blonde girl instantly flipped onto her back and scrabbled away from him, but the masked man was already lunging forward and pinning her to the ground; the blonde boy let out an angry shout as he was held down by a nearby robot. "Even if I have to force you!"

"Get off of me," the blonde girl helplessly wheezed out, struggling in vain to get away from Slade.

Quite abruptly, the man drew his hand back and slapped the girl as hard as she could; her twin brother's eyes instantly went wide with rage as the sting of his sister's blow seared across his own face. He felt the animalistic rage take over his mind, conjuring up the protective fury. Stunned and in pain, the blonde girl could only blink in shock as her ears began to ring from the force of his blow. Then she began to cry, heedless of her brother's animalistic anger and the leering people around her: human or not, she was still only a child, and being struck like that had triggered an instinct that couldn't be ignored.

So, she simply gave into it and cried.

"I'll kill you!" the blonde boy roared, face twisting up maniacally. "Nobody hits my sister! Nobody makes Persephone cry!"

"Admit defeat, Little Angel," he hissed, hauling back and slapping her again. "Admit who your master is!"

"I'm not your property!" the blonde girl shrieked, still crying her eyes out. "My brother and I won't ever use our powers for you!"

"Won't or can't?" he sneered, hauling back and decking her in the shoulder; the girl saw stars as something in her neck popped and all of her nerves unexpectedly went numb. "I ran those tests for five years, little girl: you and your brother can't even use half of your powers unless you both lose control at the same time... but this time, I came prepared to make you lose it."

The girl tensed when he let go of her and stood up, sneering with that horrible grey eye: then the masked man turned and gestured a few signals to a couple of robots, who trotted out of sight without warning. Because she was temporarily paralyzed by the nerve he'd struck, the tiny girl was completely helpless in the face of the madman's wrath. However, when the sound of three terrified voices split the air, two hearts nearly stopped in synchronicity.

"Ouch! Lemme go, you big moron!" a shrill voice snapped. "Seriously, get your hands—eek! Get off of me! Off! Now!"

"Sir, I must say that you are being quite immoral," a deep voice shakily pointed out. "Please, refrain from hurting them."

"Mister, please stop twisting my arm!" a much younger voice squealed. "It really hurts! EEK! Don't touch me there, it's a very naughty spot! Let us go, please! Mister, why are you doing this to us?! Where are my big brother and my big sister?!"

"I have no—yowch!—fucking idea where they are," the shrill voice hissed, "but the twins had better be okay, otherwise I'm gonna go ape-shit on these fucktards once we get out of here. Don't worry, Saelind, we'll be—eeeeek! Dammit! If you grope my boob again, I'll cut your hand off and shove your nasty fingers down your throat! I mean it, you disgusting lecher!"

"Please, refrain from touching my sisters in such an uncouth manner!" the male voice cried. "Let us go, I beg you!"

The blondes choked and started struggling to move as their three siblings came into view.

Saelind's favorite pink dress was tattered, her short black hair was messy, her large blue eyes were terrified, and she was struggling to hold onto her teddy bear despite the robot's grip on her wrist; Archimedes' hands were pinned against his back with chains, and his dark hair was plastered with blood; and Artemis was wearing nothing but tattered shreds that barely even resembled the mother-like dress she'd been wearing when the twins had last seen her. Her white apron was ripped, her long black hair was tangled, and her bright blue eyes were angry as she struggled and kicked at the machine holding her hostage.

Their family was coming into sight, which meant that something terrible was going to happen: the twins had to get away! They had to escape! However, as if reading their minds, Slade once again straddled the blonde girl's stomach and crushed her wrists into the gritty ground, making her whimper in pain; she instantly bit her lip and closed her eyes, however, in an effort to hide the tears that were streaming from them. She didn't want her brother and sisters to see her crying like this: she was too proud.

"Patrokalos?! Persephone?!" Artemis gasped, face going blank as she took in the twins' battered appearance; the second their eyes locked, Slade leaned forward and put pressure on Persephone's neck without lowering his gaze from hers. When the incapacitated twin let out a weak cry, Artemis's crystal blue eyes turned feral with rage and she violently began thrashing around, struggling against the robot keeping her restrained with a vengeance.

"My, my, you're very spirited," Slade sneered as his robot held her in place. "You had better behave yourself."

"Let me go right now!" Artemis shrieked, bucking like a crazy bull and letting out an enraged screech. "I'll kill him! I'll kill that disgusting bastard for putting his nasty hands on my little sister! I'll fucking kill him for hurting my twins! He's a dead man!"

"Patty! Percy!" Saelind cried, trying to run forward only to be jerked back. "Ow! Let go of me! I want Bubba and Sissy!"

"Gods above," Archimedes gasped, horrified by both blondes' battered states. "For God's sake, they're only _children!"_

"Arty! Archie! Help!" Persephone whispered, tilting her head back and twitching her useless hand in a futile gesture to ask her siblings for help. Her entire body began to shake as she struggled to move her arms, blue eyes wide and mouth trembling as she reached for them.

When tears involuntarily began streaming into her hair, Artemis went white with rage.

"Let them go!" the raven-haired girl roared, struggling against her restrainer's grip. "Let them go or I swear I'll kill you!"

"Oh?" Slade asked, voice becoming pondering. "My, my… what a bad temper. I guess I'll have to start with you first."

"No!" Patrokalos croaked when the man drew his bladed bo-staff and got up. "Anything but that!"

"Anything?" he sneered, glaring down at the boy with a cocked eyebrow. "Show me your true power and I'll reconsider."

"We… can't," the blonde boy wheezed, eyes dilating as terror clutched his stomach, "unless we're touching."

"Then I guess it's over for your precious siblings," Slade sighed, shrugging his shoulders as though the dire situation was supposed to be a huge pity. Both blondes shook and their eyes shone with tears when their eldest sister was held in place by the robots, arms spread wide with her head held firmly in place. The older girl instantly bristled and spat at the masked man before turning her eyes on her brothers and sisters.

Her blue eyes softened immensely as she gazed at their terrified faces.

"Close your eyes, Darlings," she stated gently as the man drew back his fist. "I don't want you to see the evil of mankind."

"They won't let me close my eyes!" Saelind wailed, shoulders shaking as her head was held forward. Persephone's mind went blank when Slade's staff punctured Artemis's stomach; their eldest sister's face went white and she closed her eyes, full lips pressing together tightly as she fought back a scream. Then the masked man stabbed her again… and again… and again.

When she stopped moving, the two robots tossed her aside like garbage.

Persephone and Patrokalos watched as their sister's body fell to the ground with a shared detached feeling, long black hair swirling and falling across her body like a blanket. They couldn't comprehend what was happening, much less figure out why Artemis wasn't moving or why she was so unnaturally still. Then they heard Saelind shriek, and the twins glanced forward to see Slade grabbing their youngest sister by her curly black locks; the androids instantly backed away and stood at attention, completely ignoring the fact that a little girl was being assaulted in front of them. Persephone twitched and fought to get up from her spot on the ground, desperately struggling to move her paralyzed muscles enough to save her little sister from Slade.

"Hey, little girl, want some candy?" Slade asked, voice dripping with malevolent honey as he held the crimson blade in front of the child; Saelind's blue eyes instantly went round and she mutely shook her head, hugging her teddy bear with shaking arms as the psychotic villain tilted her small face towards his. "Oh, but I think you _do_ want some. Open your mouth."

"No," Saelind whined, shaking her head again as she began crying like a baby. The villain wasn't too pleased, and his eyes instantly darkened with hatred; the twins' hearts flipped when he snarled grabbed their sister's fragile jaw in a crushing hold, jerking it open and making her scream in pain. The little girl instantly fought back and struggled to keep her mouth closed.

"I said to open your mouth," Slade hissed nastily, leaning close before he whispered directly into her ear, "so you had better open your mouth, otherwise I'll cut off your hand and make you eat it… finger by finger. What will it be, little girl?"

Saelind instantly turned white and opened her mouth, standing in place with shaking shoulders as he sneered at her. Then, with delicate movements, he slowly drew the flat of the blade across the ten-year-old's tongue and cleaned Artemis's blood away using her mouth. Saelind winced and tried not to do anything while the blade was touching her, but the hearts of her remaining brothers and sister nearly cracked when tears began streaming down her ashen face. The second he withdrew the blade from the little girl's trembling mouth, Slade chuckled and purposely made a threatening gesture to scare her.

"Why?" Saelind bawled, asking everything and nothing all at once.

"Because your brother and sister refused my offer," the man sneered, whipping his bladed staff and slicing the little girl's jugular; Saelind instantly fell back and clutched her throat, struggling to breath and convulsing as blood began to spray from the wound. The twins watched as their sister jolted violently, but only a second later their eyes locked and the blondes froze: their little sister was pleading for help that they would never be able to give… it wasn't too late, but they were helpless. Then those crystal blue eyes glazed over and Saelind stopped moving altogether.

"What have you done?" Archimedes whispered, trembling all over as his jade green eyes filled with tears. "What have you _done_ to our _family?!"_

"Shut up," a robot stated blankly, shoving him forward onto the sand; the black-haired man instantly turned his fall into a roll and leapt back onto his feet, charging toward the twins and attacking the robots around them even though his hands were bound behind his back. With several swift kicks, he sent Slade and the robots flying and snapped his chains before pulling the twins close to his chest and enveloping their bodies with his strong arms.

They merely trembled violently in his strong grasp.

"Little ones," he whispered harshly when they both clutched at his shirt, "don't hate humanity for this! These vile creatures are not the only humans in the world, and the majority of mankind are not like them! Remember that you are here to protect people!"

"Archie, I want to go home," Persephone whined, clutching his shirt. "I just want to go home…"

"So do I," he whispered; however, he flinched and his dark green eyes went blank as Slade's staff was thrust into his back; he endured the pain of being stabbed several times without letting the twins know what was happening to him, but then he collapsed between them with blood staining his clothes.

Both blondes instantly went white and weakly clutched at his arms.

"Archie?" Patrokalos whispered, blue eyes huge and lips tight with horror. Persephone tried to say something as well, but the words failed her and she weakly remained silent: her mouth felt as though it had been locked shut.

"Captives Terminated," a robot monotonously informed. "The prisoners are dead."

The twins slowly forced themselves to look up at the surrounding robots, but they instantly realized that something wasn't right: when the two of them understood why their stomachs were churning, they jolted violently and their hearts felt like they were being crushed. Persephone and Patrokalos both made an incoherent attempt at saying something aloud, unsurprisingly at the same time, but nothing came out of either one of their mouths. They had been frozen with shock.

Their minds simultaneously went blank as reality came crashing down.

"Dead?" Persephone whispered, trembling coming to a halt as her pupils contracted: memories of the people she and her twin had lost because of what they were resurfaced with crushing force, smothering her consciousness and dragging her back to the pits of hell the two of them used to call a life. Faces, hundreds of them, flashed into her mind and reminded the girl that she was nothing more than a monster. "No, they can't be! They're all we have! This isn't real!"

"How could you?" Patrokalos whispered, vacant expression mirroring his sister's. "They were humans... they were humans! They were like _you!"_

"Are the poor little monsters sad about their dead human pets?" Slade quietly mocked, walking over and jerking the twins upright by their glossy hair. "I can't hear you crying, though, so please… cry so we can all hear those angelic voices wailing in agony! Come on, children, you can do it… cry like the babies you are. Look, we're all cheering for you!"

As if on cue, the robots surrounding them let out an automated laugh and monotonously chanted, 'Cry, cry, cry.'

However, when the twins slowly lifted their heads, Slade chuckled darkly and let them go before slowly backing away: their dilated pupils had become so small that they were now virtually non-existent, and they had both gone dead white. The twins' shoulder-length blonde hair began to billow around their faces as silent tears simultaneously began trickling down their bone-white cheeks. As the two of them stared at the canyon wall with unseeing eyes, the sky began to darken with thunderheads that swirled high above the spot they were sitting. The blondes instinctively stretched out their hands to each other.

Sparks flew from their hands when they interlaced their shaking fingers.

"No more," the twins whispered at the same moment, vacant expressions twisting into agony. "Please..."

The second those words left their lips, their large blue eyes flared with blinding golden glow and their blonde hair exploded towards the sky in a gale of ferocious wind. Both twins threw back their heads and let out a simultaneous wail, screaming in sync as a lightning bolt roared out of the sky and lanced a scraggly tree on the upper canyon.

More deafening cracks and blinding flashes began to echo around the storm-ridden desert as their powers grew, but the siblings were completely oblivious to the damage they were causing: squeezing their glowing eyes shut and shrieking in pain, they unleashed the fury that God had given their kind long before mankind had become a civilized race.

Another bolt of electricity lanced down out of the sky with a deafening crack and the robot holding them in place went flying into the canyon wall: it's neck twisted with a sickening metallic crunch only a second before another scream tore from the twins' lips; tightening their grips on each other's hands, the two of them pulled each other into an embrace, holding each other close with shaking arms as they cried and totally ignoring the robotic murderers who were stupidly standing in one place.

They would lose total control if they continued touching each other, but they no longer cared.

More blinding flashes lanced throughout the sky with deafening thunderclaps, complete with a barrage of hailstones the size of tennis-balls: several streams of electricity even snapped out of their bodies and tore chunks of stone from the canyon walls as they sat there; the earth around them quickly began to quake, and the sky above turned green, boiling like a pot of water left on for too long. A swirling vortex soon began to descend, whipping up sand around their trembling forms and causing even Slade to blink in alarm: a twister was descending around them... a full blown tornado.

Yet, somehow, they were completely unaffected by it.

The twins clutched each other as their blonde hair began to rise and their shredded clothes lifted around their battered bodies: as the tornado descended and sheltered them in the center of its violent depths, the identical siblings screamed hysterically as their tears began to fly towards the heavens. They held each other to keep from shattering into a million pieces, for they truly felt as though they would break away into nothingness if they let themselves go.

That's how badly their loss hurt.

Squeezing their eyes shut as the wind shredded the world outside of their protective cocoon, the two blondes screamed even louder and their power spiked through the roof: their short-cropped blonde hair abruptly flew towards the sky in a rush of gale-force wind. Lighting bolts ripped the canyon walls to shreds with thunderous crashes; the twister threw trees, stones, the laughing robots, and other projectiles into the rocks hard enough to latch them there; but when the twins looked up and saw Slade smiling at them over his shoulder as he walked away, his indifference was enough to throw them over the edge.

Something inside both teenagers abruptly went out and their eyes began to shine brighter than they ever had before. In fact, the luminescence grew to such a powerful intensity that it appeared as though there were beams of white light shining several feet away from their large eyes. The twins threw their heads back and let out inhuman screams that shattered the fabrics of nature: it echoed throughout the entire canyon, reverberating against the stone, ripping through the forests, and rebounding off of the tall, gleaming buildings of the nearby metropolis—making the entire world vibrate with power. People all over Jump City froze in shock and fright upon hearing it, and a sense of impending dread swept through the city's inhabitants.

In that moment, everyone who'd heard the sound of their cries knew something terrible was going to happen.

The twins took a deep breath as power engulfed their minds and screamed again: long, piercing, otherworldly—the sounds avalanched through the air and made the earth seem to tremble. Pebbles danced on the ground as the very sky began to tingle with static electricity. They took yet another deep breath and arched their backs, letting out a third piercing wail of agony. This harmonious scream was the worst, and the synchronized power of it tore the fabric of space.

Something no God or Devil had ever managed to do until then.

Darkness began to gather all around as the light spiraled into the tornado, swirling towards the sky and illuminating the godly twins in ethereal radiance. The power of the siblings' scream was taking the very light away from the world, pulling it to them the same way that their mingling powers were pulling the air. Light, Shadow, and Gravity alike spiraled around them as they released an ancient power that had long since been forgotten into the world. Darkness soon fell, sending an utterly impenetrable veil across the sun and placing the entire world in inky blackness.

Where the bodies of their mortal brother and sisters lay, it was darker than the deepest of nights.

The light of the world was now swirling around the twins like a twister of luminescence—everlasting night around a vortex of blinding daylight. Lightning abruptly tore from their bodies and flashed violently across the blackness of the Earth, cracking rapidly in every direction and lancing out of the vortex at random: forking, doubling, and flashing over and over again, the lightning exploded in every direction until the air itself seemed to be burning with a blue-violet glow.

Thunder rolled throughout the dark countryside, coalescing into a continuous fury and mixing with their harmonious screams of pain, slowly becoming apart of them. The ground shook with the violence of the twins' power, and the wind swirled around their bodies so forcefully that several sturdy buildings miles away trembled helplessly against the gale and sandstone gritted away.

The sound of shattering glass echoed far in the distance.

The twins' fourth scream went beyond sound and changed to something else entirely: all around, the earth cracked open in ferocious, jagged tears and shafts of yellow light shot toward the sky from the chasms in the ground. The golden curtains of light vibrated, danced, and—with gathering speed—were pulled into the tornado and sucked into the twins' bleeding bodies. There was suddenly a horrific impact to the air when the last of the light was pulled into them.

In a brief—but tremendous flash of luminescence—every single one of the surrounding rocks were stripped of their plants in a huge cloud of green. Explosions and a large amount of shattering glass thundered in the distance, barely heard over the much closer impact. Then, as the twins slowly pulled away and stared at each other with shattered looks, their glossy blonde hair slowly billowed up and lifted towards the sky and they closed their eyes with identical expressions of pain.

Persephone and Patrokalos locked hands and arched their backs at the same time, letting out screams so loud that sound instantly became silence.

A wall of colorless energy instantly exploded out of their bodies with a roar, engulfing the world in the radiance of God's power.

Only a second later, everything around them disintegrated and was sent flying toward the sky in pieces: trees dissolved as they were torn from the ground, the canyon was reduced to splinters that soon disintegrated into nothing, and the ground itself broke away in the face of their power, exploding into the air and flying away from them in a shockwave of unseen lightning. Time itself had been Sundered, and the world would end if the flow of energy continued to increase.

Existence itself would be frayed... which would force all dimensions into an implosion that would end all life.

Quite abruptly, a flash of green light separated the two of them and they went flying out of the twister.

Seconds later, a curtain of black descended upon the twins' vision, blanketing them in a darkness so deep that they couldn't see any light. The feeling the shadows gave off sent their minds reeling into a land filled with monsters, and the phantoms of those long dead began to appear in their minds again. As their power finally died away and the darkness receded, the twins collapsed beside each other and stared into the other's blue eyes as their tears stained the sand: they were currently lying on the one spot that hadn't been destroyed by their explosive display of power, but they were so weak they could barely move.

However, Percy and Patty were completely unaware that they were lying precariously in the middle of a stone pillar that stood nearly seventy meters in the air: they were right in the center of a circular chasm that stretched nearly three miles in circumference. Above it hovered Jump City's most famous teenage heroes, who watched in horror as the world around them devolved into an unstable hurricane.

It seemed like forever... but when Persephone was strong enough to open her sparkling blue eyes, she found the end of a metal rod in front of her face. When she blinked and glanced around, she found—to her surprise and utter confusion—that five oddly-dressed teenagers had surrounded her and her twin brother, and they were glaring at both of them with angry eyes. The boy nearest to her was the one holding the staff against her throat: he was emanating positive intent instead of negative. However, he was hostile... and she felt her heart leap when she realized that she couldn't see his eyes.

"Whoever you two are, make the weather stop!" the boy rapped out commandingly; with the roaring noise coming from the storm around them, he practically had to shout for her to hear. After tilting her head back and staring at what was behind her, Persephone realized there was a ringing black dome of power surrounding her, Patrokalos, and the five teenagers. It was shielding them all from the hail, which was currently pounding against the smooth top as lightning crashed loudly above them. "If you don't listen, I swear we'll take action against you and throw you into a high-security prison!"

"No! J-just stay away from us!" Persephone instantly croaked, righting her head with a jolt and immediately inching away from the black-haired boy's staff. Her voice shook and her shoulders trembled violently despite her defiant command, and she frantically tried to crawl towards her wide-eyed brother. "It's not us anymore, I swear! We can't do much unless we're touching!"

"I'd have to disagree with that: we saw what happened to those robots. Anyway, take a look outside," Robin retorted grimly, nodding at a very pale girl who was wearing a blue cloak. The hooded girl allowed a section of the dome to disappear, allowing both Persephone and Patrokalos to see the fierce storm that was now raging outside. "Now, stop the—ouch!"

The team leader reeled back with his hand to his head when Patrokalos shakily grabbed a large hailstone from the sand and threw it at him. Taking advantage of the situation, the battered twins clasped hands, scrambled to their feet, and made a beeline for the empty space in the dome's wall. However, the wall of the dome immediately filled up again and black power cords sprang from it, wrapping around the twins—who screamed as they were pinned to the black wall.

"Eek! Let us go!" Persephone wailed, frantically kicking her bleeding legs and struggling against the power. The cloaked girl raised one hand warningly as black power rippled across her palm. The masked boy looked livid as he walked over to stand in front of the blonde girl; on the side of his head, the spot from the hailstone was rapidly darkening into a bruise. "Go away! Please!"

"Stop the storm, now!" he roared, and—with a complicated-looking twirl and a swing of his bo-staff—he whipped his weapon an inch from Persephone's face. The girl flinched and turned her head away from the weapon, shaking all over before she managed to take a deep breath and glare at him. After nearly a minute of this, her brother snarled angrily, fangs glinting in the subtle light.

"Leave her alone and hit me, you sadistic jerk! I'm the one who threw the hailstone!" the blonde boy growled, shoulders trembling when his sister began to cry. "After all, you've got nothing else to lose, right? We're stuck here, you're free—and you have four other people to back you up! Go ahead and hit me as much as you want! Just go away once you're satisfied!"

The Boy Wonder made a convulsive movement, causing the blonde girl to flinch and squeeze her eyes shut.

"Robin, I do not think these identical beings will do anything if you threaten them," the girl with red hair timidly piped up, taking a cautious step forward and putting a hand on the black-haired boy's arm; she was hesitant in her approach, almost as if she were afraid to anger him even more than he already was. Because the boy was, in fact, very enraged by the twins' actions.

"Yeah, man, I think you're only scaring them," Cyborg added uneasily.

"Dude, maybe they don't even know how to stop it," Beast Boy remarked. "Maybe the storm was… I dunno, a fluke?"

The second the green boy spoke, the twins whipped to look at him and their faces simultaneously drained of color: for a moment, both blondes truly believed that they were staring into the face of someone they met once before, and those memories sent them into a terrified frenzy. With simultaneous shrieks of terror, the twins began thrashing around as the panic engulfed their minds. Their captors balked at the sight of the hysterical reaction, and for a moment they looked baffled.

"No, no, I don't want to go back into the dark!" Persephone shrieked, kicking her legs. "Get Doctor Vladmir away from me!"

"Let me handle this," the hooded girl abruptly broke in. "I might be able to stop the storm if I can get into their minds."

Robin paused, then nodded, not taking his eyes off of the panicking twins.

"Azarath, Metrion, Xinthos," she breathed, and a black raven—her soul—rose out of her body.

Lifting its head, it soared towards the twins before splitting in two and plunging into their torsos.

There was a strange moment when nothing appeared to be happening, but then the twins' eyes closed as they let out simultaneous moans. The two of them began struggling against the bonds as their faces twisted in pain and terror: honestly, their expressions made it seem as though they were slowly being eaten alive. The Titans watched the spectacle—feeling unnerved by the experience of watching two people squirming and writhing as though they were in an extreme amount of pain; eventually the twins stopped fighting and their faces relaxed.

The two of them opened their eyes at the same time to reveal bright violet irises.

"I took control of their powers," the cloaked girl remarked. "I'm suppressing them right now in order to stop the storm."

The twins' eyes closed again and the weather outside immediately began to lessen. As the hail stopped, the lightning dissipated and the clouds faded—revealing the sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky once more. In a trice, Raven's soul self left the twins' bodies and dove back to her own. The black dome abruptly vanished, and the blondes fell to the ground like identical sacks of potatoes. As her soul self returned, the cloaked girl gasped and her violet eyes flew open.

She swayed slightly where she stood, breathing heavily.

"Raven!" the green-skinned boy cried; he was at the cloaked girl's side in a second, slipping an arm around her waist to support her as her knees buckled. His voice was edged with worry as he peered up into her face. "Rae, are you all right?"

"Yes, but those two… they put up one hell of a fight to keep me from seeing their minds, and I regret to say that they won it simply because their combined efforts drained me," the Empath wearily replied. "They're much stronger than I thought they were, and their powers are completely… uncontrolled. These twins are very, very dangerous… in fact, from what I saw of their inner minds, they're not even _human. _We should keep them under surveillance... they're a danger to the city._"_

"Uh…" the green-skinned boy droned as the Titans looked at the blondes, who lay limply on the sand. "Who's gonna get guard duty?"

Nobody answered him.


	2. Chapter 1: 'T' is for 'Terror'

**Chapter One: 'T' is for 'Terror'**

When his electric blue eyes fluttered open, the first thing Patrokalos saw was a bland metal ceiling with a single light bulb dangling in the very center of it. The walls around him were smooth and unmarked, and there were no blemishes or chips in the gleaming metal. After a moment of blinking blearily at his uniform surroundings, the boy slowly sat up and rubbed his aching head with a groan: he felt as though his skull was splitting open, and his entire body was aching badly. However, when he glanced up and spotted his sister sprawled out across the floor, he very nearly had a heart attack.

A sickening jolt of terror ripped through him and his eyes went wide.

"Percy! Percy, are you okay?! Wake up!" Patrokalos stammered, crawling over to the blonde girl and gently shaking her shoulders. "Come on, sis, wake up!"

"Ow... ow, I hurt... what happened?" the pale blonde girl mewled, groggily opening her big blue eyes and blinking up at her brother in confusion. However, her eyes instantly widened with lucidity and she frantically clutched his face with both of her small hands. "Patty, what the heck happened to you?! Why are you all beat up and why are we… oh, god… no... p-please, tell me all of that didn't really happen… I… I-I thought I was dreaming... right?"

"It's real," the boy whispered, eyes slowly filling with tears. "Artemis, Archimedes, and Saelind were… and Slade... it... we..."

"No! This has to be a nightmare, it has to be!" the girl whined, sniffling when her brother pulled her into a hug. "This can't be real!"

"I know how you feel," Patrokalos stated weakly, rubbing his sister's back as he took in his surroundings; when the blonde boy noticed that they were inside some sort of prison cell, his heart immediately began to thump in fear and he clutched his sister more tightly, wildly glancing around as he wondered whether or not the masked man had finally caught them again. This didn't look like it was a part of _The Facility_ though: the four walls were made of metal, as well as the floor and the door—which had no noticeable doorknob or buttons. The only furniture was the cot, a metal table, and two metal chairs built into the floor on opposite sides. What terrified them, however, was the fact that there were no windows or airways: it gave the room a horribly constrained feeling.

The boy closed his eyes as his heart palpitated.

Maybe his sister was right and they were dreaming… maybe they'd blacked out in the canyon from shock.

The last thing he could remember was him and his sister losing control of their powers.

Wait… then he remembered a black dome, and five odd teenagers with hard expressions. The masked boy yelling and threatening his sister. The black raven entering their bodies. The mental struggle between his sister, him, and the hooded girl as they fought for control over their minds. Then the strange girl had won and taken control… she had done something by diving into the link between Patrokalos and Persephone; after that the black raven had left, and they had blacked out.

"This place looks completely sealed," Patrokalos muttered, turning to his sister with nervous eyes. "It's made of some type of metal... I think we're stuck in here."

"Really?" Persephone whimpered, flipping the overly long sleeves of her sweater up and revealing her tiny hands. "You think there's no way to get out?"

"Possibly," the blonde boy muttered, giving a little shrug. "I don't see anything that looks like a door... do you?"

Percy didn't answer immediately.

"Maybe... it's just not visible?" the girl stammered, shakily standing up. "The Facility had doors like that... remember? That really big one that seemed to disappear?"

Her brother instantly nodded.

Flicking her blonde hair out of her large blue eyes, the battered girl padded over to the door with her torn stockings sliding against the frictionless floor. With her eyes and fingers, she explored the metal inch by inch to no avail: her brother watched her pat the walls for only a moment before he decided to get up and join her. After searching the walls for any sort of blemish other than the door, however, the two of them realized that there was no way out. The twins instantly rushed over to the nearest corner and embraced each other, shivering all over: they were trapped with no windows and no fresh air.

"We're trapped," Patrokalos whispered, shaking as terror rose inside of him, raw and wild—clawing up his throat and strangling him; with a burst of energy, he and his sister got up and began slamming the door with their fists, both of them terrified of the situation they had been put in. "Let us out! Someone, please! We can't stand being locked in small areas! Open up! Open up and let us go! We didn't do anything!"

"Please, just let us out!" Persephone wailed, joining in with her brother's terrified shouts. "We're _claustrophobic!"_

As the two of them continued pounding on the door, they both felt a sudden blast of energy shooting down their arms and surging into their fingertips: a quiet shushing noise filled the room as water exploded into existence. The twins froze and stared in shock as the water swirled in shimmering streams to the back of their wrists and began forming glistening pillars. Persephone gasped when the liquid pillars attached to their skin and froze into solid blades of ice: stunned, the two teenagers stared at the swords sticking out of their sleeves before glancing at each other in shock and surprise.

"We didn't do that while we were touching," Patrokalos noted, looking highly alarmed. "Normally we'd have to be touching to freeze things. Have we gotten stronger?"

"I don't know, but there's one way to find out," Persephone warily replied, staring at the ice that had somehow attached to her pearly skin. "Let's try it alone?"

The twins slowly made their way over to the door again and found the seam where it disconnected from the wall.

After attempting to slide the blade through the crack, she found that the shard was too thick to slide into the space. Breathing in, she intently focused on the swords jutting out of her wrist bones: as she did so, something sparked on her hand and traveled up the blade before the ice shard morphed into a razor-thin blade instead of a thick one. Patrokalos abruptly swallowed and stared at the sword on his sister's hand, turning a little pale before he blinked.

"That was a little scary..." he commented, glancing at his sister's face only to find that she looked more spooked by her developing abilities than he felt. "Then again, it seems like you're already aware of that. Sorry for stating the obvious."

"N-no problem, bro…" the girl peeped, shivering as she slid the thinner ice blade into the crevice. "Let's just get out of here."

Her brother's face scrunched for a moment and his blade also became thinner, and he mirrored his sister's movements by sliding the ice into the opposite crevice.

The twins tentatively focused their minds and sent more of their energy surging into the blades in an attempt to make them expand into something huge. Light exploded from their wrists with a flash of wind and the twins jumped back, covering their faces as an explosion rang in their ears. When the blondes looked up, the metal door was on the ground and they could see the wall. Tentatively, the teenagers gripped each other's hands and stepped out of their prison, expecting something terrible to happen... something like a bomb exploding beneath their feet without warning.

However, nothing happened.

"Odd," Patrokalos noted after a moment, hand tightening on his sister's fingers. "I was expecting some sort of alarm to go off, at least."

"I was expecting to get our legs blown off by a mine or something," Persephone admitted, glancing at her brother with sheepish blue eyes. "We should get going before someone really tries to capture us, though. I'm tired of everyone trying to use us... we need to find someplace where we can live happily... someplace where nobody can get hurt because of us. We need to find a place where Slade will never find us."

"I kind of agree with you," the boy sighed, tiredly rubbing his eyes, "but, honestly, I want to find a way to make people stop attacking us more than I want to live happily ever after. I mean, if they could just understand how we feel, maybe we wouldn't need to hide from humanity anymore. Just because we're not human doesn't mean we're monsters… we have emotions, we have morals, and we have dreams just like they do! The only difference is that we have powers and we'll live forever, that's all! Even then, we're still only fifteen years old right now: we're just two kids who don't have any place to go, and on top of that we haven't done anything wrong or broken any laws! We have absolutely no grudges against mankind like a lot of other races do, and personally, I just want to live in peace!"

"Patty, how can we make them listen?" Persephone weakly inquired, eyes filling with tears. "What can we do to make them leave us alone? They see us as monsters!"

"Yeah, I know, but maybe they'll listen if we... I dunno, maybe if we try singing?" her brother offered, shrugging as his expression faltered. "Artemis once said that normal humans like people with good voices, and the gift of Song is something that our kind wields naturally. Maybe if we sing what we want to say instead of speaking it, they'll listen to how we truly feel… but right now, we have to get out of here, so let's make plans like that a little bit later. Okay?"

Persephone sniffled, although her brother couldn't help but notice that she looked very relieved and happy by his idea about using their musical talents. Feeling slightly more confident, the twins stepped around the metal door and looked around anxiously. The two of them were now standing in a long hallway with plain gray walls and a few odd-looking doors on either side, but at the moment there was nobody to be seen.

Hopefully it would stay that way until they escaped.

Sadly, that was never the way things went.

Robin sighed as he walked down the hall, pondering the situation he had found himself in.

He and his friends had witnessed the murdering of two girls and a boy by the hands of what _looked_ to be Slade's robots, but what's more was the fact that those very same robots had all been destroyed by the twins when they'd had lost control of their powers. Frankly, if Raven had admitted that the two of them were dangerous, he wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to handle the situation. He figured he would have to interrogate the twins sometime soon, since they were most likely going to wake up soon, but right then he was procrastinating since he had no backup plan: he needed one just in case things turned out for the worse.

The Boy Wonder walked into the camera room to find Beast Boy—who was supposed to be watching the twins—lying fast asleep in the swivel chair.

"Beast Boy!" the leader shouted, face becoming angry and shocked: the changeling woke up with a startled yelp, then cowered when he saw his furious leader standing over him. "What are you doing?! You're supposed to be watching them!"

"Watching them sleep was boring, though, so I nodded off for a bit! I mean, nothing happened, see?" the changeling protested, gesturing at the screen with a triumphant expression: however, the twins were gone from the room and the door was in the hallway, which made him pause. Robin glared at Beast Boy, who grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oops."

"We need to take care of the problem and fix it," the Titan leader sighed, not even bothering to continue yelling; instead, he took out his communicator and snapped it open with a growl. "Titans, I need your full attention right now: the prisoners are loose in the Tower. Find them at all costs and use force if you must. Robin out."

And without another word, the team leader dashed out of the room.

Neither of the twins realized that the tower was on high alert... nor did they realize that Beast Boy was watching them and listening to their conversation now.

"Patty, this place gives me the creeps," Persephone suddenly muttered, clinging to her brother's strong arm with a highly disturbed expression on her face. "Seriously, the halls are like the neighborhood in that movie _The Poltergeist_: they all look the same."

"I know," Patrokalos agreed, trying to act bravely so his sister wouldn't be more afraid than she already was. "Just keep going and ignore the fact that everything is spooky and dark, okay? We need to get out of here before they find us."

"Well, I'm following you," the blonde girl snorted, clinging even more tightly to his arm. Patrokalos and Persephone tiptoed nervously down the halls without a sound, carefully looking down each corridor before they even considered going down them. They hadn't seen anyone yet, but that didn't mean _they_ couldn't be seen since there were bound to be a whole bunch of cameras in such a high-tech place. Hence why the two of them were so timid about walking around like this.

"Seriously, where are we?" Patrokalos wondered, peering around a corner before he pulled his sister down the hall. "This place is huge... and weird."

"Hang on... shhh!" Persephone suddenly whispered, making her brother freeze. "P-Patty, I think I hear something..."

"What is it?" Patrokalos whispered back, blue eyes nervously flashing around in the darkness. "I don't hear anything…"

"Shhh…" the blonde girl urged, blue eyes large and full of fright; her head was cocked and she looked stricken with alarm. "I don't know what it is, but it sounds like a really quiet thumping noise. It's similar to footsteps… but it's heavier, and it rings differently than a normal human's… somehow. It's odd."

"I would say that you're imagining things," Patrokalos mumbled, glancing around with a shaken expression, "but you're usually right, so I won't."

"Yo, there you are!" a male voice suddenly shouted, rifting the silence. "Stop right where you are!"

The twins simultaneously jumped into the air with involuntary squeals of fright and whirled around with enormous eyes: a mechanical man was sprinting towards them from the other end of the hall, shoulders lowered like a football player with his face locked into a frightening expression. Letting out nearly identical screams of terror, both blondes spun around, clasped their hands, and bolted down the hall so fast that sparks flew from their heels: as usual, Persephone had been right.

"Run for it, Percy!" Patrokalos yelled, blonde hair flying and chest heaving as he and his sister fled. "Run, run, run!"

"Patty, where do we go?!" the blonde girl wailed, sounding utterly terrified; he blue eyes were full of panic. "Where do we go, where do we go?!"

"I have no clue!" her brother shouted, pulling his sister around a corner and sprinting down another hall. "Just run and don't stop for anything, got it?!"

As they bolted past countless doors with their fists pumping, the twins began to cry when they heard Cyborg running after them—still shouting loudly and terrifying them even more than they already were. His heavy footsteps reverberated through the carpeted hallway, drowning out their frantic heartbeats. Persephone and Patrokalos dashed around another corner and bolted down the hall until they came to a dead end with nothing but an elevator. The blonde boy repeatedly smacked the elevator button until the doors opened, and the twins struggled inside before pressing the switch to close them again. Through the lift's slowly-closing entrance, Patty and Percy could see the cyborg standing in the hall: he'd paused a good deal away, but now he had his arm pointed at them with his natural eye closed.

They blinked in confusion: there was a swirling blue light emanating from a wide hole in his arm, right in the spot where his hand was supposed to be.

However, the second they realized he was aiming some sort of weapon at them, the twins blanched and cowered against each other with terrified expressions, squeezing their blue eyes shut and burying their faces in each other's shoulders. Their knees buckled and they cowered down against the wall, huddling together with shaking limbs in an effort to lessen whatever was coming their way: fortunately, the elevator doors abruptly closed and the robot disappeared before he could fire.

Both blondes nearly melted into a puddle of relief and started crying.

"I thought we were going to die," Persephone sobbed, burying her face against her brother's shredded shirt. "I really did! I thought we were goners! Why was he trying to hurt us?!"

"I don't know," Patrokalos hiccuped, struggling to keep from crying even though his eyes were full of tears. "All I know is that we have to get out of here."

Cyborg, meanwhile, slowly lowered his sonic cannon as it changed back into his normal arm: his face was blank and his anger had literally dissolved. The bionic boy had found the perfect chance to incapacitate the twins since they'd run into the elevator... but he'd hesitated. For the first time in his life, he had hesitated because of the way his target had reacted: when they'd realized what he was about to do to them, the expressions on their faces had made him feel like a monster. Both blondes had looked legitimately terrified and trapped—like small, helpless children who had unexpectedly been caught in the headlights of a semi-truck. He was getting way too soft if he had faltered over a few frightened looks, and he seriously hoped that Robin wouldn't find out that he'd let the prisoners get away.

He couldn't say that he'd let them go simply because it had felt... _wrong_ to attack them.

His leader would blow a blood vessel.

Meanwhile, Persephone and Patrokalos ran out of the elevator when it hit the next floor and darted down the hall like a pair of spooked rabbits, still badly shaken by their encounter with the robotic man, The building they were trapped in honestly felt like a labyrinth, since it held confusing twists and turns: merely moving down the halls was making both blondes extremely dizzy, and they couldn't seem to find the right direction.

"Ack, look out!" Patrokalos suddenly cried, skidding to a halt with his sister when the hooded girl from before slid through the ceiling. "What the hell?!"

She had literally appeared right in front of them, looking like a wraith from a horror movie. However, what made the twins go nuts was the fact that her eyes were glowing white and her dark blue cloak was billowing behind her, making the pale girl look like a witch. With simultaneous screams of fright, Patrokalos and Persephone whirled around with the hopes of running away from her—but they halted when they saw that the redhead had flown to the opposite end of the hallway, blocking their only escape route and causing the blondes to panic. Her eyes began glowing green as a matching light engulfed her hands.

"Don't move a muscle," the hooded girl ordered flatly, rapidly lifting her palms. "Stay where you are!"

"No! Please, just leave us alone!" Patrokalos cried, looking between the Empath and the alien with wide eyes. "We didn't do anything wrong, so go away!"

The hooded girl ignored him and created a black hand of power while the redhead readied her glowing green light. Just as the 'hand' shot forward and the green energy was released, Persephone jerked her brother off balance and leapt to the side, sailing through an open set of doors with a shriek. The two powers crashed into each other instead of hitting the twins, creating an explosion that sent the Titan girls flying backwards; both of them hit the ground at opposite ends of the hallway. The twins scrabbled to their feet and ran through another open door, finding themselves in the entrance hall to the Tower.

Persephone chanced a look over her shoulder to find that nobody was following them, but then the doors burst open to reveal Robin—which made her heart leap into her throat. Fear bloomed inside the blonde girl's chest as she grabbed her brother's hand, whirled around, and sprinted towards the exit with a terrified sob. Her brother's grip tightened on her own as they fled toward what they hoped was the last set of doors, but when the twins pushed them open and bolted outside, they skidded to a halt with hysterical shrieks when they were faced with a giant green Tyrannosaurus Rex.

It was Beast Boy in his best form.

"W-what the hell?! Is that a freaking _T-Rex?!_" Patrokalos cried, eyes going impossibly wide; however, the boy squeaked and grabbed Percy's arm when the dinosaur's spiked tail went flying at them, jerking the screaming girl down just in time. "Persephone, calm down! Run between its legs and head for the water!"

"I-I can't move!" the blonde girl squealed, bursting into hysterical tears when she tried to get up and failed. "My legs won't work anymore! It's gonna eat me!"

"Dammit!" the blonde boy cried, grabbing his sister's arms and swinging her onto his back. "It won't eat you! I promise, so let's just get out of here!"

When she clamped her arms around his neck and began to cry, he understood why her legs wouldn't respond anymore: her muscles were shaking too badly from the terror she was experiencing. When the green dinosaur roared and snapped at the twins, Patrokalos dodged and darted between the T-Rex's legs as his sister shrieked, ducking to avoid the tail it swung again. The dinosaur snarled and attempted to bite them as they passed through his legs, but it missed and flipped onto its back. Robin growled under his breath as the twins bolted toward the dock, but then he jumped over the dinosaur's tail and sprinted after them in frustration. Patty ran down the island toward the docks, dirt spraying beneath his tattered socks as his sister sobbed and shook on his back. Skidding to a halt, the tall boy stopped at a small ledge adjacent to the water: in front of him was the Bay, and the waters stretched out for hundreds of yards before coming to the city boardwalk.

He didn't know if he could swim that far in salt water with so many cuts and wounds on his body, especially if he was carrying his sister.

"You there!" Robin shouted, sprinting toward the two battered blondes. "STOP!"

He took out three explosive discs without thinking and flung them at the twins, who had stopped fleeing and were currently staring at the water with terror-stricken expressions on their faces—obviously deciding whether or not to swim or defend themselves. The blonde boy turned around just in time for him and his sister to be hit by the fiery shockwave: there was a loud crack and the twins were thrown backward towards the water. The girl let out a hysterical scream, the boy let out a hysterical shout, and then both of them disappeared from view as they went flying into the waves in different areas.

Which was bad, considering they couldn't swim.

Patrokalos automatically tried to take in air only to have burning salt water fill his nostrils, cutting off his oxygen and making him choke beneath the waves. Blue eyes frantic to find his twin sister, he flailed around in the ocean as his chest began to burn from lack of air. He glanced toward the surface and struggled to swim to it, but he was too weak to move. His lungs burned and his eyes stung as he wondered whether or not his sister was okay.

The choking liquid pressed in on Persephone from all sides, making her movements sluggish as she struggled to swim up to the surface.

Her chest was burning and her eyes were stinging like crazy, but she was desperate for air and even more so to find her brother before he drowned. The two of them couldn't swim because they didn't know how, and moving when they were in the water took double effort if they were alone: they could only breathe underwater while feeling certain emotions. However, she was too weak to find the surface, and her struggles slowly began to grow weaker as darkening spots flashed in front of her big blue eyes, making it hard to see anything.

Finally, she stopped struggling altogether.

Patrokalos and Persephone slowly sank underwater, arms stretched arms out with no energy left: they were both facing the surface in the same position, even though they were no longer anywhere near each other. Their pale, reddish-gold hair swirled around their pale faces, flashing like molten platinum as it drifted in front of their dazed blue eyes. Staring up at the flickering shafts of sunlight with hazed vision, both twins watched as the faint rippling above grew dimmer, fading away by the second. Memories of their life together surged into their awareness as they slowly closed their eyes.

Percy's head lolled as something hot and hard gripped her around the middle, viciously jerking her backwards.

After a few moments, her hazed mind began to flicker with life once again and the girl remembered she needed to breathe. Electric blue eyes snapping open wide, the blonde girl clutched at her throat and began to flail around as something pulled her through the stinging waves. Then her head broke the surface and she took a deep, ragged, painful, and absolutely wonderful breath of fresh air. However, she yipped when something jerked her to the side, cracking her ribcage with the force of the tug: a few seconds later she was being dragged on land with her brother; she lay on her back and blinked dazedly at the sky while her brother coughed up his lungs.

Only a second later, she also had a burning coughing fit and was forced to roll on her side as the water was expelled from her lungs. The twins coughed and choked hysterically for several minutes as the water came up, but the second their vision cleared, the blondes were treated to the sight of the masked boy's face looming disturbingly close. They were so startled by his appearance that Persephone burst into tears and Patrokalos nearly fainted.

"EEK!" Persephone shrieked, flailing her arms and smacking him in the face by accident. "Patty, help! Get him away!"

"I just saved your life!" the boy hollered, straightening his mask when she scrabbled away from him and hysterically clung to her twin brother, who pulled her close and shakily held her face against his chest. However, the crying twins let out terrified screams when a huge pair of mechanical arms clamped down on them from behind and separated them from each other. "Good work, Cyborg... we managed to apprehend them."

"Let us go!" Patrokalos wailed, frantically kicking around when he was lifted off the ground. "Dammit, let us go!"

"Yo, don't move another muscle," a deep voice grumbled. "And watch what you're doing with those legs, man!"

"At least do it quickly, okay?!" the blonde girl sobbed, breaking down into tears when the redhead and the hooded girl dropped down out of the sky with the green-skinned boy in tow. "I'm begging you! Don't make it hurt too much, please… my brother and I don't like being in pain, regardless of what you humans seem to think! We've had too much pain, so please, just do it fast!"

"What on earth are you talking about?" Robin scoffed, cocking an incredulous eyebrow as the rest of the Titans blinked in surprise and confusion. "Would you care to explain what you mean by that, please? I'm afraid we're not exactly.. following."

"Huh?" Persephone whined, looking up at him with terror-stricken eyes. "You mean you aren't going to kill us?"

"K-kill you?!" Robin squawked, looking utterly dumbfounded; Raven snorted, Starfire went white in shock, Cyborg fought back a snicker, and Beast Boy merely scratched his head in confusion. "We aren't gonna kill you! Why the hell would you think that we would?!

"Yeah... plus, why would _we_ want to do that?" the changeling asked, moving closer and leaning towards the girl's face. Persephone flinched and turned her head away from the changeling the moment Dr. Vladimir's face flashed into her mind: this boy had green skin and green eyes, but he looked like the man who had ruined their life. She instantly began to tremble, irrationally fearing that he would hurt her in some inhuman way; the cloaked girl seemed to notice her reaction, but she said nothing.

"Why did you think we were trying to kill you?!" Robin repeated, still looking a little stunned. "We honestly weren't!"

"Well, it seriously looked like that to me!" Patrokalos retorted sourly; then he tilted his head back and angrily beginning to recite their wrongdoings. "Considering the fact that my sister and I were kidnapped, held in a small room against our will, nearly blown to bits by a Cyborg with a gun for an arm, attacked by two frightening girls with superpowers, nearly crushed by the jaws of a T-Rex, and blown into the ocean by a masked kid's _Frisbee Grenade_, anyone would think you were trying to kill us!"

"Dude, we didn't kidnap you!" Beast Boy exclaimed, eyes going wide in surprise. "That was all just a plan to stall you until we could... _catch_ you again!"

"Well, that plan almost got us killed!" Patrokalos snapped, flinching involuntarily when the boy scowled at him. "And anyway, you _did_ kidnap us: the literal definition."

"Friends, we must do the talking in a more pleasant manner," the redhead exclaimed, hovering forward and landing in front of the twins with an apologetic smile. "New Friends, I must do the apologizing for causing you such a tribulation. We are merely… what is the word? Oh, yes—alarmed, by the destruction you can create, so we must now evaluate your powers and see how strong you are. It is dangerous to be full of such a power, yes?"

"E-evaluate our powers?" Persephone asked, sniffling as the cyborg let go of her and Patty; the two of them instantly pressed close together. "Are you going to try and make us use our powers?! Are you going to experiment on us?! No, not again! Don't hurt us, please! We'll be good!"

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Robin immediately soothed, lifting his hands when the blonde boy pulled his sister against his chest in a protective embrace; his blue eyes became extremely hostile when she buried her face in his shirt and burst into tears again. "Look, there's no need to glare like that… we won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, okay? However, you do need to tell us what was going on before you lost it back in Sunnyside Canyon. We only saw a little of it at the end, and there were several human bodies in the canyon… as well as some familiar robotic parts. We want you to explain what was going on."

"They were probably from the robots that were chasing me and my sister," Patrokalos weakly explained, hugging his twin. "This is probably going to sound really, really weird, but... we're not exactly... human. A long time ago, someone figured out our heritage, and because of that... the government wanted to test how strong our abilities were. We didn't want to use our powers for them, but they used... leverage over us... in order to drag us away. Then they… they..."

"We managed to escape, but they tried to kill us when we broke out of the facility," Persephone weakly interrupted, rubbing her eyes. "After that, we were adopted by a pair of siblings named Artemis and Archimedes. We lived with them for about a year, and we were happy... but then, _He_ found us, and Patty and I got lost when we ran away in the chaos. We wandered around until we ended up in Jump City, and when we found an abandoned apartment building, we stayed there. We got a letter from Artemis recently saying that she wanted to meet us out in Sunnyside Canyon... but when we got there, we were attacked by those robots."

"Artemis and Archimedes?" Robin asked, frowning in puzzlement. "They wouldn't happen to be…"

"Dead?" Persephone filled in, fighting back tears as she buried her face in her brother's shirt once again. "Yeah… they are."

_"He_ killed them," the blonde boy finished, looking like he was ready to cry as well. "He... he... right in front of us... he..."

"Whoa, hold up," Cyborg suddenly stated, catching the attention of the group. "Something about this sob story doesn't sound right to me. How do we know whether or not you're lying to us? I mean, you could be saying that to gain our sympathy!"

"We don't know you, so why would the hell we want you to feel sorry for us?!" Patrokalos snapped, whirling around and glaring at him with eyes full of tears. "Stop being self-centered and leave us the hell alone! All my sister and I want to do is leave before he can find us again! We have have to get away from here!"

"Who is this 'he' you both keep mentioning?" Robin suddenly asked. "I've never heard you say his name."

"That's because we don't know it," Patrokalos spat, flicking his sopping wet hair over his shoulder and glaring at the ocean. "All we know is that he calls himself Slade!"

The name seemed to have an instantaneous effect on the group: every single one of them became hostile towards the twins until the masked boy held up his hand and shook his head. For some reason, they seemed more shocked by his interference than the blonde boy's response. Just as the masked boy opened his mouth to say something, a faint buzzing suddenly echoed from the tower and the group of Vigilantes glanced up at the windows to see red light flashing in a rhythmic way; almost simultaneously, several musical ring-tones piped up from the belts of the five teens.

The boy immediately pulled out his communicator and scowled.

"Titans, there's some sort of trouble in the slums," he stated, glancing up at them.

"What do we do with them?" Raven demanded, shooting a glare at the blondes, who flinched in reply.

"Let them do what they want," Robin retorted, giving her a pointed expression before he glanced at the water. "It's not like they can leave the island once we retract the bridge, right? You all just saw it for yourself: they almost drowned a few minutes ago, so I'm guessing they can't swim."

"Good point," Raven stated quietly, leering at them. "Still..."

"Don't worry about it," the titan leader sighed, giving her a calm expression. "Now... TITANS, GO!"

The twins watched with baffled eyes as all five teenagers either flew or ran away.

"We have other ways of getting around, you know," Patrokalos called, frowning when he realized they'd been so naive. "Are you seriously leaving us here...?!"

"What's going on?" Persephone wondered aloud, sniffling as she watched them go. "Why did they leave like that?"

"I dunno, Percy, but now we have no choice but to follow them if we want to get away from here," Patrokalos stated thoughtfully, cocking his head and staring after the teenagers. "Plus, I don't want them coming after us, and I know these weirdos will try it if they come back to find that we've disappeared."

"Do you think we could use our powers to jump really high since we can't use our wings yet?" Persephone inquired, glancing at him in confusion. "I remember Dr. Vlad telling one of the guards that we'll be able to summon our wings during our full awakening, but we obviously can't use them right now. So, do you think we could find an alternative way to get around using compressed air?"

"I don't exactly know," the blonde boy replied, giving it a decent amount of thought. "It's worth a shot. Any ideas?"

"Well, I figure that maybe, if we use our minds to compress the air and let it go once it's tight, we can jump really high after it blasts back out…" Persephone timidly suggested, glancing at him with nervous blue eyes. "Then again, that's only a theory and it might not work in a real situation."

"Let's hope it does," Patrokalos sighed, glancing at his sister fondly. "Now all we have to do is sing."

Closing their eyes, the twins clasped hands and took a deep breath, harmonizing their souls and letting their emotions flood into each other.

With a radiant glow that left the world tingling with life, the angels opened their mouths and began to sing without using words. Their voices interlaced with each other and harmonized in a surreal-sounding duet, echoing over the waves and causing the very air to vibrate: the twins felt something building up beneath their feet, lifting them almost an inch off the ground and making it look like they were hovering in mid-air. When the twins' voices coalesced and seemed to become one beautiful string of sound, the compressed air exploded back out in every direction and the blondes went flying.

Quite frankly, they were startled and hadn't been expecting the abruptness of the launch.

"Hiyeeeek!" Persephone screeched, flailing her arms as they both went sailing across the ocean. "EYYYYYAAAAAAAAH!"

"I agree, totally, but stop screaming and start singing or we'll crash into the sea!" Patrokalos cried, also flailing around as he struggled to keep a grip on his sister's smaller hand; the twins frantically began to sing again, and the air propelled them into the air again not even a second before they smacked into the ground. Thus, the twins found a way to follow the Teen Titans to wherever they had gone.


	3. Chapter 2: Guardian Angels

**Chapter Two: Guardian Angels**

"What is this unsightly place?" Starfire whispered, voice trembling slightly as she glanced around.

"The slums. We're still in Jump City, just a different side of it," Robin explained, shaking his head in disgust: the Titans were now standing on a short building near the outskirts of Jump City, looking out at the one place they had never visited in their own metropolis. The rundowns of Jump City were just as unpleasant as any slum in the world: poverty echoed down the streets, graffiti covered every wall that wasn't in shambles, and no windows were unbroken in the neighborhood.

"There's crime written all over this hood!" Cyborg scoffed, angrily looking around. "How come we've never been down here before?"

"We've never been called," Robin calmly explained, although his lips _were_ pressed into a thin line. "We could have helped if we'd known how awful it had gotten."

"So… why'd they call us now?" Beast Boy grumbled, just as a massive dragon-like creature with brown scales, silver spikes, and glowing violet eyes reared onto its hind legs above the buildings—bursting over the skyline and blowing orange flames into the streets with a roar. Robin and Raven both turned around and glanced at Beast Boy with raised eyebrows. The changeling instantly let out a sheepish laugh and muttered, "Oh... I see."

Starfire, on the other hand, took one look at the beast and gasped.

"That is a Tamaranian yarkblat!" she squeaked, mouth dropping open as she pointed at the monster with a look of horror. Robin spotted a metal collar around the dragon's neck bearing a large, glowing jewel identical to the one that Blackfire wore; apparently, Beast Boy saw it as well.

"Let's see, I need to think about this," the green-skinned teenager murmured, pretending to think really hard. "Who do we know from Tamaran who has access to evil mind-controlling technology and wants us all to be smears on the ground? Here's a little hint: starts with a 'B,' ends with a 'lackfire'!"

"Oh, really?" Raven asked in a deadpan. "Don't you mean it ends with an 'itch'?'"

Robin cut the pale girl's vulgar statement off with a conveniently timed cough and nudged his head at the redhead; Starfire didn't catch onto the foul language, but she knew very well who they were talking about. After all, Blackfire was her older sister from her home planet.

"I fear I am misunderstanding something," Starfire quipped, looking at him in confusion. "Why would Blackfire send this horrendous creature to the 'sulms?'"

"It's 'slums'," Robin corrected, shaking his head only a split second before his communicator beeped. "Huh? Incoming message...?"

When he flipped the screen open and looked at it, he saw Blackfire's face on the screen.

"Hey, kids!" the alien girl laughed, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder with a grin. "I thought I'd send you all a little present. The coordinates were a little bit off, but I'm sure it's safe enough to assume that you were smart enough to find him. Have fun with your new pet! Oh, and Raven… I'm flattered by that."

"It's an automated message, so I guess anyone with a good intuition can figure out Raven's personality," Cyborg snickered, reading the screen on his arm after the transmission died; the empath instantly gave him the stink-eye, which he ignored. "Well, I traced the message, but she's nowhere even relatively close to our galaxy. The monster was apparently nothing more than a random attack, so it should be easy enough to deal with if we work together."

"Well, then all that's left is taking it down!" Robin stated, then lifted his hand and cried, "Titans, _go!"_

The five super-powered teens immediately charged into battle.

However, it wasn't long before the Titans realized they were losing: Blackfire had created a nice little backpack for the yarkblat, which consisted of five containment bubbles. Four were already filled: Starfire, Cyborg, Robin, and Raven had all been caught by the beast and were desperately trying—and failing—to escape their shocking confinement. Beast Boy, surprisingly, was the only one who was still free from captivity. He was currently clinging to the massive dragon's snout in his gorilla form, ruthlessly pummeling the rock-hard scales with his giant fists and achieving absolutely nothing in the process.

With one mighty swipe of the yarkblat's claw, the changeling was thrown from an incredible height.

He rapidly shifted into a bat and was just in the middle of trying to dodge another attack when the creature's heavy claws smashed into him from above. The force of the blow crushed his wings and he shifted back into a human, only half-conscious as he went careening toward the pavement. The changeling squeezed his catlike green eyes shut as he prepared for impact, but then, quite unexpectedly, a crushing force smashed into his back and he felt two small hands grabbing him around the waist—both catching him and crashing into him at the same time. Beast Boy's first thought was that Starfire had come to his rescue since she was rough, but the green-skinned boy flinched when he looked up and saw the face of the blonde girl they had captured earlier.

_Dude, why is she here?!_ he wondered, struggling against the blonde's grip and ignoring the way she squeaked when he almost slipped out of her grasp.

Persephone clamped her skinny arms under his own before he could fall, and she didn't let go of him again until they came to a halt on a nearby roof—where they both went tumbling due to an ill-balanced landing. It was only then that he realized she couldn't have been flying with him; the two of them had landed much too hard. Beast Boy rolled to his feet and took on a defensive posture just in case she proved to be hostile. However, the moment he got a good look at her, the changeling was struck dumb and he began to drool a little: she was slowly and clumsily getting up, but when she shook her hair out of her eyes, his heart flipped.

He hadn't noticed it earlier, but the girl was insanely cute.

She was about half a foot shorter than him, had reddish-blonde hair that hung down to her shoulders in gleaming curls, and her adorably large eyes were a vibrant shade of blue that somehow popped out at him in a familiar way. He didn't know why, but she honestly looked familiar to him... although, her skin was so pale that she seemed abnormally fragile—almost as though she'd never been out in the sun growing up.

Before he could say anything, the girl looked at him and flinched back several steps.

"Stay right there and don't move," she hesitantly commanded. "Stay where you are... not a muscle."

"Uh, okay?" the changeling asked, confused by her expression. "Why?"

The blonde girl merely closed her eyes and let out a gentle hum that vibrated his entire body and set his hair standing on end. He shivered when an electric tingling unexpectedly filled the air with the sound; his animal instincts were warning him to stay away from her, which made the boy feel tense. The girl's shoulder-length blonde hair billowed weightlessly around her face and neck as the vibrating tingles grew stronger, and when she opened her eyes again he saw that her irises had had been replaced with a blinding yellow light. Beast Boy flinched and leapt backwards when an unexpected concussion thundered in his ears and the girl went flying toward the yarkblat. In mid-air, she flung her arms out and grabbed her brother's hands, who had also gone flying from a different building nearby.

The two of them spun in a dizzying circle as they sailed towards the dragon.

"Dude, what just happened?" Beast Boy wondered, gaping as he watched the twins flip through the air. "How the hell did she do that?!"

The changeling and his imprisoned teammates watched in horror as the twins shrieked, clumsily spinning toward the monster's face and kicking their legs as they tried to regain their balance. The yarkblat turned at the sound of their cries and blew a torrent of flames at them, but every single one of the Titans stared in shock when the twins separated one of their hands and locked them once again behind their backs, diving headfirst with their necks tilted back.

The second the twins opened their mouths, the sound of their harmonious voices exploded into the air and a blue glow surrounded them: a wall of water instantly swirled into existence around their flying forms, seemingly coming out of nowhere and extinguishing the flames. The rest of the heat wave roared around both blondes, leaving them completely unscathed as they let go of each other and spread their arms wide. The moment before they collided with the beast's nose, Persephone and Patrokalos simultaneously brought their small hands together with a thunderous clap and unleashed their abilities.

The mouth of every Titan dropped when the alien dragon was hit by two bolts of lighting, causing it to explode in a spray of yellow blood.

The twins, on the other hand, proceeded to fall toward the ground and let out screams as they plummeted: they both managed to twist their bodies enough to land without getting hurt too badly, but their momentum caused them both to roll across the gooped-up pavement: the musical teenagers came to rest in the middle of the imprisoned Titans, completely covered in yellow goop and shuddering in utter revulsion.

"Ew, gross!" Persephone squealed, looking down at herself in horror before turning an unpleasant shade of green. "Oh my God... ew..."

"I think I'm gonna vomit," Patrokalos choked out, gagging a bit as he tried to avoid looking at himself. "This stuff smells like sewage, skunk-butt, and microwaved diapers mixed with Artemis's French perfume. Ugh, this is just nasty!"

"I don't even want to ask how you know what all of that smells like," Persephone groaned, also gagging a bit, "but could you keep the descriptions on a minimum until I can scrub my skin off? Because I seriously feel like I'm about to throw up."

"Sorry, sis," Patrokalos sighed, flicking his hands and getting as much goop off as possible. "Ugh, yuck..."

The Titans stared at the twins while they shook off their arms and legs, all the while making disgusted faces and shuddering.

After a moment, they glanced around and froze when they saw the trapped Titans. The blondes glanced at each other and shrugged before they walked to the base of the device that the bubbles were mounted on. Kneeling down, Patty opened a hatch and scrutinized the metal paneling. Taking each others' hands, the twins stared at the paneling and sang a strange melody consisting of interlaced high and low notes: quite abruptly, the surface of the panel broke in half and Patrokalos ripped off the covering to reveal a complex set of wiring inside. The blonde boy instantly looked confused by what he saw and rolled back on his heels.

"Okay," he murmured, studying the panel intently, "I have _no_ idea what I'm doing here."

"Well, then let me give it a look," Persephone suggested, looking at the paneling; she blinked in surprise. "Yeah, there's a pretty good reason why you don't know what you're doing, Patty… this technology isn't even _possible_ for humans yet."

"How do you know that?" the blonde boy scoffed, blinking at her in amazement. "How _could_ you know that?"

"Well, remember all those books I read on lasers?" she asked, hooking a strand of hair behind her ear before she pointed at a particularly bright vein of light inside the machine. "Yeah, _that_ thing right there is a laser, but it's so powerful that there's absolutely _no_ possible way a human could have developed it using earthbound resources. I would advise against touching it with your fingers, though, since it'd burn right through them in an instant. Ever watch how Darth Maul died in Star Wars?"

"No, because unlike you, I'm not a nerd," Patrokalos snickered, sticking his tongue out until the girl smacked his arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I am not a _nerd,_ Patty," Persephone pouted, ignoring the mock-hurt expression he gave her. "I just like to read a lot of sci-fi! I'm an intellectual, not a nerd!"

"Well, fine, if you say so," the blonde boy sighed, frowning. "Since you're so smart, how do we deactivate this thing and get these guys free, then?"

"I honestly don't know," the blonde girl admitted. "Maybe we could try shorting out the hardware with our lightning?"

"It's a start, at least," Patrokalos sighed, rolling his eyes before he stared at the odd-looking panel. "I still have no idea what I'm doing, though."

Obviously puzzled, Persephone and her brother stared at it for a several moments; then the girl scratched her head and lifted her palm above the laser before closing her eyes. Electricity crackled around her hand only a split second before she slammed it into the top of the wiring, the farthest point away from the lasers she'd warned Patty about; the machine instantly exploded and the containment bubbles disappeared. The four surprised Titans landed roughly on the street, splashing right down onto the disgusting yarkblat guts: the twins giggled hysterically at the identical looks of indignation on all four faces.

By this time, however, the alien dragon had started pulling its body back together and was soon completely reformed: its tail lashed out of nowhere—knocking Cyborg and Starfire into a building. Starfire managed to catch the robot before he made contact with the ground, but both were stunned by the monster's swift attack. Raven and Robin were just beginning to prepare for battle, but then their communicators beeped and they pulled the devices out.

Surprisingly, Beast Boy was on the other end.

"Dude, our powers are useless against that thing!" the changeling cried. "If it hadn't been for them, I would have died!"

"He's right," Robin said shortly, making everyone stare at him in shock and surprise. "Pull back, team! I want to see what these two can do!"

Everyone nodded and met up at the place where the girl had dropped Beast Boy. The twins watched them go with outraged blue eyes, waving their arms frantically and trying to get them to come back. After a moment, though, the dragon turned its gaze upon the blondes and blasted another pillar of fire at them. The teenagers leapt away before it could hit them and both came out of the attack unhurt, but now they were angry and they decided to fight back.

With eyes that shone gold, the twins leapt at each other and clasped hands once again; then they began to sing a melodious amount of musical notes, summoning a spray of water to their wrists and freezing them into a set of blades with their voices. Then they propelled themselves into the air and began slicing at the beast, nimbly avoiding his swishing claws and tail as they bounced from building to building, using _each other_ to flip in different directions.

Quite frankly, they made one hell of a good team.

"A barrier of liquid has formed out of nothingness!" Starfire gasped, pointing: true to the alien girl's exclamation, the air in front of the musical duo had been filled with a reverse tsunami that had engulfed the monster from the ground up. With a few more notes from the blondes and a concussive implosion on the air, a wave of silent thunder exploded around the twins' bodies and the monster was frozen solid; the only thing beneath the wall of ice that still looked alive now was the glowing jewel on its collar, but that slowly burned out. Amazingly, the twins had defeated the monster with no problem whatsoever.

When Persephone and Patrokalos landed on the street together, they immediately propelled themselves back into the air and flew up high before they tumbled down and landed ungracefully onto the roof in front of the Titans. After untangling their limbs from each other with awkward expressions, the small blonde girl timidly got to her feet and tiptoed up to Beast Boy: she shakily handed him his boot before skittishly prancing behind her brother and staring at all five of them with big, wary blue eyes. Her brother did the same, only he stood tall with his shoulders back and his head held high: he looked very alert.

"But you—how did you—who the hell _are_ you people?!" Robin stuttered in shock, looking completely hostile.

"Sheesh, _that's_ a nice way of saying thank you," Patrokalos muttered, instantly scowling at the ground.

"Not bad guys..." Persephone mumbled at the same time, eyes shining with fear. "We're not bad guys."

"Why did you save us?" Robin asked suspiciously. "What's your motive?"

The twins stared at him blankly for several moments.

"Who the hell needs a reason to help someone?" Patrokalos slowly inquired, frowning in a perplexed manner. "If you saw someone falling from a skyscraper, I'm sure you'd do the same thing and save them, right?"

"We only wanted to help," the blonde girl proffered shyly, huddling close to her brother's side, "and you're safe now… so why are you mad at us?"

"Because I don't trust you," Robin retorted nastily, "and the two of you followed us here without a good reason!"

"Excuse me?!" Patrokalos hissed, glaring at him in disbelief. "This is the part of town we've been living in for the past three months, and you idiots just so happened to show up in our neighborhood! Our apartment is right over there, you dolt! We were coming to get our stuff when we saw you were in trouble!"

"Wait, you live here?" Beast Boy asked, eyebrows lifting in surprise before he looked around. "You live in this horrible neighborhood? Duuuude..."

"Well, only for now, at least... my sister and I have moving around ever since… well, since forever, I guess," Patrokalos muttered, looking away with an emotionless expression on his face. "We haven't exactly had a stable living environment, you know? I'm sure you can guess why, so please don't ask."

However, Robin was abruptly struck with a sense of Deja Vu... almost as though he had heard something similar once before. However, when he noticed how familiar the twins were, a sickening jolt ripped through his chest: what frightened him was the fact that he _recognized_ Patrokalos from somewhere. After a moment of staring at his face, struggling to remember where he'd seen the boy, Robin's eyes inexplicably flashed down to the girl hiding behind him.

And he froze.

In that moment, he suddenly felt like vomiting: both Persephone _and_ Patrokalos looked almost exactly like _Terra._

"Why are you all staring at us like that?" Percy suddenly asked, blue eyes flitting with worry as she and her brother subconsciously took a step back. "We don't even know who you all are, so would you please explain everything? I mean, you _did_ abduct us… and the only reason we haven't left yet is because we wanted to set things straight with you first. We were afraid you'd chase us if we simply left, so here we are."

None of the Titans had noticed they'd been staring and all of them flinched at the question.

"Fine! I'm Robin, and we're the Teen Titans," the Boy Wonder snapped. "This is Cyborg—"

"What's up?" the bionic teenager laughed, giving the twins a one-eyed wink that made them feel confused.

"—and that's Beast Boy—" Robin continued irritably.

"Thanks for saving me," the green-skinned teenager greeted with a wave.

"—Raven—"

"Hi," Raven said simply, looking—as usual—as though she didn't really care.

"—and Starfire."

"Hello again, Identical Friends! Thank you very much for saving us!" Starfire joyfully exclaimed, flying up and attempting to shake the twins' hands—just like Robin had instructed after the time she'd hugged a complete stranger who had simply said 'hello' to them on the street. The twins, on the other hand, cringed against each other and cowered when the alien flew at them. "Oh... please, do forgive me! I did not mean to do 'the scaring'!"

"N-no problem," Patrokalos squeaked, jerkily letting go and shaking Starfire's extended hand. "Welcome to our side of the city, I guess..."

"Do you really live in such an unsightly place?" the redhead asked, blinking in dismay.

"Yes," Persephone admitted, staring at the ground with a sorrowful look in her big blue eyes. "We have nowhere to go, so we keep moving from place to place."

"That's unacceptable!" Robin snapped at her, startling everyone—even himself. Starfire gave a little gasp before turning her head and gawping at the boy with wide eyes; the others knew why and joined her shocked stares. He sounded the same in his conviction of the twins as he had when they'd all met Starfire—only now there was something else mixed into his voice. "It's completely unacceptable..."

"What do you mean?" Persephone mewed, cocking her head to the side in confusion when she noticed the awkward silence. "Um... did we miss something?"

"We need a minute to talk," Robin muttered to the twins, who glanced at each other when the Titans walked away. "A long minute..."

"Those two would make a good addition to this team," Raven quietly rasped, shocking the hell out of everyone present. "I think we should recruit them."

"Uh, Rae?" Beast Boy squeaked, mouth hanging open in shock. "Can you please repeat that? I think my ears are still ringing from hitting my head earlier."

"You heard me," Raven calmly explained, trying to cover up her real reason for wanting the twins to join their team. "I think we can trust them. I have instincts about the intention of others... and I don't sense any hostility from them, only... loneliness. They'd be a good addition to this team."

It was true that their auras were pure, but there was a horrifying amount of emotional agony emanating from both of the blondes. Their pain was so powerful that it was actually visible to the Empath, and she had once been told by her mother that seeing an emotion was so rare of an occurrence that it would most likely never happen in her lifetime: the twins were feeling so much pain that it was swirling around them like a black cloud of mist, and it had caught her interest to an extremely profound degree. Raven was secretly burning to know why the small girl and her twin brother were hurting so much.

"Yes, friends," Starfire added, clasping her hands together with a pleading look. "I, too, do not wish for such sweet people to live in such a terrible place. They have saved our lives, and we are in their debt for such an act of selflessness. We have also done the naughty by taking them to our home without them knowing why, and it is our own mistake that has led to this."

"Yeah, man, and we could interview them to be housekeepers if they don't want to train," Cyborg added in; however, an awful sense of déjà vu suddenly swept over the Titans and they turned to look at Beast Boy, who had so far remained silent. "What are your thoughts on it, BB?"

"Well... it's weird," the changeling finally muttered. "We haven't had anyone new since… her."

"We shall never have any new friends if we do not start making them!" Starfire gently pointed out. "Befriending new people does not mean we need to forget."

"Are we agreed then?" Robin demanded, looking around at his friends. "Should we invite them for a training session and see if they're fit to join us?"

The other Titans nodded and shook hands before they turned and walked back to where the twins were now sitting on the edge of the building. Persephone's slender legs were swinging over the edge of the rooftop, Patrokalos was sitting still, and strands of their shoulder-length blonde hair twisted in the breeze as they stared at the ruined streets with solemn expressions. Their hands were interlocked with tight fingers, almost as though they were afraid to let go of each other.

However, they hastily turned around when they heard the Titans coming.

"Would you two like to stay at our place for a while?" Robin asked, offering a hand to help the blondes to their feet; both of them flinched and turned their heads when he thrust his hand out. Robin frowned deeply when he noticed their unexpected reaction: for some reason, both blondes were acting as though they were afraid his team would hit them. After a moment of cowering with their eyes squeezed shut, the twins opened their eyes looked up at their smiling faces. Instead of running away like their instincts were telling them to do, Patty and Percy took Robin's hands with hesitant eyes and let him help them up.

Once they were standing, they glanced down at the roof with uneasy expressions.

"What are your names?" Raven inquired, catching their attention. "I don't believe you've told us about yourselves."

"Oh, I'm Persephone D'Andesyrius," the blonde girl hastily introduced, giving a quick little bow. "I'm fifteen years old, I can make really yummy food, and I like to read a lot! My grades are sort of average, but I can do math pretty good after I—"

"Percy, they weren't asking for our entire life description," Patrokalos snickered, rolling his eyes before he gave his sister a fierce noogie that made her squeal in protest. "Now I have to repeat a similar description of myself thanks to you! Anyway, my name is Patrokalos D'Andesyrius, I'm a minute older than my sister, I can eat almost anything and like it, and I love writing more than I love reading. My grades are crappy, and the two of us are... uh... don't laugh: Angels."

"Those names," Raven noted, narrowing her eyes, "those names are derived from Greek and Roman times. Is the fact that you're… _angels_ the reason why you two were named after Pagan gods? Is it because your parents were… _angels,_ as well?"

"I dunno why our parents gave us these names," Persephone admitted, shrugging off her twin brother's hand. "Heck, we don't even know our real parents, but you can call us Percy and Patty if you want. After all, our nicknames sound more… normal."

"Yeah, and everyone else called us that back home, so it's easier for us to remember," Patrokalos added, agreeing with his sister wholeheartedly and giving the hooded girl a shy smile; Raven immediately cocked an eyebrow, curious as to why his emotions inexplicably changed in a way that she didn't understand. The empath still didn't trust the twins, and despite her burning desire to know more about them, she knew better than to trust a friendly smile thanks to Terra's betrayal of them. The fallen Titan had hurt her a lot more than she really wanted to admit to herself.

"We should all head home now," Robin sighed, wearily rubbing his dirty arms. "We all need a decent shower after this."

"Shower?" the blondes exclaimed at the same time, bright blue eyes lighting up.

"Yes, a shower," the boy wonder rapped out, looking a little irritated. "Star, Raven, and Beast Boy, you three can fly on ahead while I take the R-Cycle. Cyborg can take the twins in the T-car: that way we all have some type of way to get home."

"Aw, man!" Cyborg instantly cried, face becoming horrified. "My baby's gonna get covered in this stuff!"

"She'll live," Beast Boy snickered, grinning at the bionic black boy and rolling his eyes before he morphed into a falcon and took off.

Starfire and Raven followed close behind with the twins watching in fascination: they were both amazed that somebody could learn to fly without using wings, and it intrigued them to no end. Robin noticed the rapturous expressions on their faces and rolled his eyes behind his mask before throwing a grapple and swinging down to the ground. Cyborg looked at the two confused blondes as they glanced around the roof, looking for some other way down; with a sigh, the bionic black boy grabbed the two of them and hefted their weight securely in his arms… despite the resulting squeal and squawk of protest.

"What are you doing?!" Patrokalos cried as the giant walked towards the edge. "Oh, man, please tell me you aren't!"

"Patty, what are you talking about?" Persephone squealed, face immediately draining of color. "What's he doing?"

"Hold on tight and don't wriggle around too much, otherwise you might hit the pavement," Cyborg chuckled, crouching against the rooftop amusedly when the blondes shrieked in hysterical protest. "Yeah… and the screaming isn't helping you."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Persephone chanted, squeezing her eyes shut. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The bionic boy abruptly sailed down from the rooftop, and the blondes in his arms let out nearly identical screeches that left his human ear ringing; however, he had to admit that their reactions upon landing had been totally worth it. Persephone was thoroughly shaken by his actions, and her face was so white that the boy felt a little guilty; Patrokalos, on the other hand, was reacting in a way that had Cyborg fighting off a fit of hysterical laughter since it would have made him look like an ass. The blonde had a serious case of the hiccups, and he was fanning his bright red face to clear the fright away.

"You're such a—hic!—jerk!" Patrokalos cried, hiccupping violently as he shakily got to his feet. "Once this—hic!—starts, it takes forever to make it—hic!—make it stop again! I—hic!—GOD DAMMIT, I _hate_ you!"

"I thought I was gonna die again," Persephone whispered, hugging her knees and slowly burying her face in them. Cyborg felt guilty after hearing that, so he waved the twins to follow and led them to the car he'd built. Once the twins were in the back seat, their exhaustion kicked in and they fell asleep against each other before he even got the engine started: Cyborg stared at them in confusion for several moments, wondering how they could be so deadly... and yet, look so _innocent._

"Man, I hope these kids aren't villains in disguise," Cyborg sighed, furrowing his brow as he started the T-car. "They aren't acting suspicious, though, and I doubt they would ever willingly work for Slade after what we saw… but something big is definitely going on."


	4. Chapter 3: Predecessor

**Chapter Three: Predecessor**

"I got dibs on the Game Station!" Beast Boy shouted, transforming into a cheetah and racing to the main room. "Whoohoo!"

"No way!" Cyborg yelled, pumping his arms as he charged after him. "I called it on the way back!"

"You were with those blonde kids, not us!" the changeling cried, laughing. "You have no right to call it!"

"Then neither do you!" Cyborg shouted, chasing the little grass stain out of the room.

Raven muttered something about meditation and went to her bedroom soon afterwards; then Robin volunteered to give the twins a tour of their home with Starfire close behind. The two blondes had been dumbstruck to find that the Titans actually lived in a T-shaped building, but they had been even _more_ shocked to find that the inside of the building actually looked incredibly... well, _classy. _Once they were able to get a better look at it, they realized it wasn't scary at all.

It was actually pretty amazing.

"The kitchen's in here!" Robin explained, moving around the bar with the two blondes beside him. "Take something from the fridge whenever you want."

He was about to open the door to the main room when something smashed into it from the other side and a pair of muffled yells echoed from behind the electronic metal entrance. Persephone instinctively leapt onto the top of the fridge and cowered against the wall, curling up into a little ball and clamping her tiny hands over her ears with a whimper; Patrokalos similarly leapt under the table, head buried in his knees with both arms covering the back of his neck.

Robin looked highly alarmed by their instantaneous reflexes; Starfire, on the other hand, merely looked confused.

"New friends, why must you hide in such strange places?" the Tamaranian girl asked in bewilderment. "I do not understand... is this the game of 'hide and seek'?"

"No, it's just BB and Cy fighting over the Game Station, Star: the twins were startled," Robin slowly explained, helping Persephone down when the small girl wordlessly tried to slide off and failed. "Still, we should probably avoid this general area for a while, just to avoid any… casualties."

Something heavier hit the door as they were leaving: the blonde girl jumped clean onto Starfire's back with a terrified squeak and clamped down on the hovering alien with a startled expression. At the same moment, Patrokalos gripped Robin's arm and clenched it tightly, but when the black-haired boy turned to snap at him, he was greeted with the sight of a trembling blonde who had his eyes squeezed shut and absolutely no color in his face. When Robin realized that Percy had buried her face in the startled alien's hair, he merely sighed and put up with the grip on his arm.

The Titan leader silently motioned for the princess to follow him out of the room before he opened the door and walked through it... leading Patrokalos along, since the boy still had his eyes shut. After they were far enough away from the noises to make the twins feel more comfortable, the girl slid down from Starfire's back and the boy let go of Robin's arm. The twins followed the two Titans with identical expressions of fearful unease.

As the tour wound down, the four came to the hall with the Titans' rooms.

They walked down the hall until they came to the sixth and seventh one.

"Friend Percy, you shall stay in here for now," Starfire said brightly. "Friend Patty will stay in the room beside you."

"Who's Terra?" Persephone mumbled, looking at the name on the door with curious blue eyes. "Is she another Titan?"

"Erm, this is…" Starfire mumbled, looking very uncomfortable; she trailed off and turned to glance Robin. "Well..."

"We'll talk about that some other time, but right now it isn't important," Robin sighed, shaking his head in a placating manner. "Anyway, there are some clean clothes in both rooms right now, so feel free to change into something other than… that, after you shower."

"For free?" Patrokalos exclaimed, thick blonde eyebrows shooting up. "Are you sure it's okay that we stay with you?"

"Of course it is!" Starfire replied brightly. "I will not have you sleeping on the streets when we are in your debt!"

"It's just like she said, so make yourself comfortable," Robin agreed with a nod. "You can do what you want until dinner."

"Sweet!" the blonde boy cried, hurrying into his new room and shutting the door. "I'll see you at dinner, Percy!"

"Well, o-okay," Persephone stammered, blinking as Robin and Starfire walked down the hall, speaking together in low tones as they went. She watched them leave with a curious expression, but just as they rounded the corner, Percy saw Robin put a comforting hand on Starfire's shoulder. The blonde instantly frowned, looking at the ground with a guilty expression: apparently, from the way they were acting, staying with them had reawakened something painful for the Titans. Feeling solemn and upset, Percy turned into the room and closed the door before heading over to the closet and selecting a new outfit.

_It's a really nice room, _Persephone thought to herself, frowning a little as she grabbed a change of clothes, _but I wonder why 'Terra' affects them like this._

Shrugging her shoulders, the girl grabbed a towel before heading off to the nearest bathroom. Once she was clean, dressed, and her glossy blonde hair was fully brushed out, the small girl cautiously padded out of the bathroom and made her way towards the room that everyone called the Common Room. However, just as she was about to open the door, she heard voices on the other side of it and stopped: they were talking about her and her brother in very hushed tones.

"_Yeah, but_ _she asked about Terra,_" Robin said solemnly, voice muffled by the walls. "_We'll have to tell them sooner or later._"

"_Let's wait until we know if they'll even be on the team,_" Raven retorted sharply, making her twitch. "_We'll train with the twins after dinner and see what they can do to gauge their skills. Then we can make a decision about what to tell them, okay?_"

Persephone hunched down and hastily whirled around, leaving the premises in the assumption that their conversation about her and her brother was over. Not really having anything else to do, she slowly made her way to the roof and sat down on the edge of the tower, staring off at the setting sun as the breeze played with her shoulder-length blonde hair. She sat there for an extremely long time, not really knowing what to do: she was feeling completely alone and afraid.

_I'm going to be the new girl for a long time,_ she thought silently, eyes sad._ I just hope my brother will be happy now._

Percy sat there until the sun sank below the horizon, then buried her face in her knees until she heard a voice shouting down in the tower.

"Dinner time!" Cyborg happily bellowed, ripping off his apron and chef's hat. "Come and get it!"

The Titans expectantly gathered around the table, but when the twins slowly came in through the door and sat down as well, everyone gaped at them.

Patrokalos was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a pair of jeans that made him look fairly attractive, and he was also wearing a pair of fingerless black gloves that he had found in his new bedroom. His shoulder-length blonde hair, which had been washed and was now pulled into a ponytail that somehow managed to not seem girly, gleamed like golden fire in the light of the kitchen. It his bangs and stray hair curled around his ears and neck in a cherubic manner.

Persephone, on the other hand, was the one who caught their attention, and by all means it was not in a good way: she had thrown on a hooded black T-shirt, a pair of khaki shorts with knee-high socks, and a pair of black boots. Her wavy shoulder-length blonde hair was pinned off to the side by a familiar butterfly brooch, and for a moment the Titans blanched in horror: she looked almost identical to Terra, save for the shorter hair, paler skin, and smaller body. When the twins looked at the food, they became oblivious to all of the blatant stares and swallowed at the same moment: the last time they'd eaten had been six days prior to being captured.

The entire team stopped eating and watched as the blondes began nibbling at the food with tears in their eyes, but Raven frowned when they really began to cry, because the food was pretty average-tasting and it shouldn't have been good enough to reduce someone to tears. Regardless of their skepticism, though, the Titans were impressed because—aside from the meat—Patty tried and liked every dish that was put in front of him.

He even had a tofu eating contest with Beast Boy and won it.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Beast Boy exclaimed, grinning widely at the blonde boy. "So, did you like it?"

"Yeah, but all I could taste was the Tofu… that kind of killed the urge to eat more of it," Patrokalos admitted, sheepishly hunching down when the green-skinned boy gave him a dejected puppy-dog face. "Sorry, green man, I'm just being honest."

"This just proves that real meat and eggs are better than that nasty stuff," Cyborg laughed triumphantly, pumping his fist; the changeling huddled down even further and his expression became even more pathetic. Persephone giggled a little at the sight and decided to help him out with her knowledge on cooking, which she happened to have a lot of thanks to Artemis. She figured this would be a good chance to bring that up, so she set her fork down and lifted her eyes.

"Nope, I'm afraid you're completely wrong about that statement," the blonde girl hesitantly stated, making the robotic boy stop laughing and blink at her in total confusion; Beast Boy instantly perked up and glanced at her with a hopeful expression, pleading for her to say something good about tofu. "Well, then again, if I'm going to be _completely_ honest, this tofu sucked… and it was prepared very, very badly."

His expression made her wince: Beast Boy looked like he was about to cry.

"Yo, how does that make _me_ wrong and _him_ right?" Cyborg scoffed, cocking an eyebrow at her. "You just agreed and said that the tofu sucked, which contradicts what you said about the meat. Would you care to explain your reasoning, little lady?"

"Well, it's true that this tofu was terrible," Persephone admitted in a quiet tone, casting an apologetic glance at the green-skinned boy before returning her gaze to the bionic teenager, "but that's only because he didn't prepare it properly. You see, just because tofu is a meat substitute, that doesn't mean it's supposed to be prepared like an actual meat source. To put it all simply and kindly, Beast Boy prepared it wrong: when tofu is made the right way, you're not supposed to be able to tell the difference between what you're eating and the real thing. I can guarantee that you'll like properly-made tofu more than the chopped up cow on your plate, especially if I'm the one who makes it. Would you let me make it for tomorrow's dinner?"

For several moments, the Titans merely stared at her with open mouths.

"Dude," Beast Boy breathed, green eyes shining, "you mean you know how to make tofu-dishes, _and_ you eat them?"

"My sister and I are Vegans," Patrokalos quietly explained, making the changeling's jaw drop open in shock. "I mean, we have a special connection with plants and animals that allows us to feel what they do. After experiencing for ourselves how a mother cow feels when she wakes up to find that her child is gone forever, eating meat feels like murder and cannibalism."

"Dude, you totally understand!" Beast Boy abruptly exclaimed, making the other four Titans stare at him. "You two understand exactly the way I feel! After being so many of these animals and feeling the way they do for myself, it makes me sick to my stomach to watch so many people eat them! I mean, I've tried eating meat when everyone in the tower is off doing their own thing, but I always think about how being that animal feels and throw it up! I get sick!"

"Yep, that's what happened to us whenever we tried to stomach it," Persephone chirped, finishing the last of what was on her plate. "Hence why I learned how to make tofu on the nights that our sister Artemis was feeling lazy. So, is it okay if I help Cyborg make some tofu dishes to go along with whatever else he decides to whip up for our next dinner time? If not, I could make a tofu-based breakfast…"

"Dude!" Beast Boy squealed, leaping onto the table and grabbing her hand with a huge grin. "Can you make tofu sausages and tofu eggs that taste like the real thing?! Please, please, pleeeeease say 'yes' so I can have a decent breakfast tomorrow!"

"O-of course!" the girl squeaked, severely startled by his actions. "I can make all sorts of tofu-based breakfast dishes."

"Sweet, my life is better already!" Beast Boy howled, sliding back in his seat and doing a happy little jig.

"Well, if you really can cook, you're welcome to give it a try," Cyborg stated warily, eying the small girl up and down as she removed the napkin from her shirt and wiped her mouth, "but it had better be good, kiddo, because if I try this tofu you're so confident about only to find that it tastes like the gritty crap that BB always makes, you owe me a burger and some fries."

"Deal," Persephone exclaimed, grinning confidently as she shook his huge hand, "and if I win, you either have to eat Beast Boy's version of Tofu for a month or admit out loud that he was right and Tofu can be better than the things you like to eat!"

"Fair enough," the bionic teenager laughed, secretly admiring the girl's naive way of helping others. He was happy to see the huge grin of delight on his green friend's face: it had been a very long time since the changeling had smiled so sincerely.

"Raven has been kind of quiet and I get the feeling she doesn't like talking," Patrokalos suddenly stated, awkwardly looking down at his plate, "but… w-well, Raven, what kind of food do you like to eat? I haven't heard you say anything about your meal preferences, so it would be kind of beneficial to know that."

The Titans abruptly stopped what they were doing and stared at him in shock.

"I don't eat that much," the hooded girl explained, glancing up with a suspicious expression. "However… when I do eat, I usually go with the pizza my friends are ordering, the salads I buy at my favorite coffee shop, or my herbal tea. That's it."

"You like pizza?" Patrokalos inquired, brightening up in an instant. "Really?"

"Yes, I find the taste rather enjoyable," Raven replied, narrowing her eyes at the blonde boy. "Why are you asking me these questions instead of Robin or Starfire? I like to be left alone, and I'm sure they'd be much more willing to talk to you."

"Well, I figured that the two of them probably already know how to cook since I saw them helping Cyborg in the kitchen earlier," Patrokalos sighed, face turning a dark shade of red as he shyly averted his eyes, "but I guess it's a different story if you prefer to be left alone, though… I... I'm sorry for asking."

"What are you trying to pull?" Raven demanded, violet eyes narrowing even further. "You don't know me."

"Eh? Is it a bad thing that I want to?" Patrokalos asked, glancing up at her in surprise; under normal circumstances, Raven would have taken his question to be a cheesy pick-up line and thrown him out the window like she was constantly doing to Beast Boy, but this… well, _this_ wasn't exactly normal circumstances. From what she could sense, the blonde boy was alarmingly innocent and he'd been sincerely confused and worried when she'd turned her 'angry face' on him.

At the moment, he was feeling an unnerving amount of self-regret… and it made her feel a bit guilty.

"Not necessarily," Raven said slowly, violet eyes completely alert. "However, if you think for one second that I'm easy to get along with, you're dead wrong. Just ask Beast Boy how many times he's been thrown out of the Tower windows and you'll see for yourself."

"Well, okay, but I already figured that you're not the talkative type," Patrokalos sighed, leaning back in his chair as relief spread across his features. "Anyway, if you like the taste of pizza, would you all care to try a recipe for vegan lasagna that our sister, Artemis, taught me? Or, uh… if you like meat more than tofu, I might be able to figure out how to make it using that… but I don't know if it would taste the same. I could try using thyme instead of basil."

"No, you should go with oregano," Persephone instantly corrected, absently dusting off her shirt. "Thyme makes meat taste unpleasantly sour: it tastes better on tofu since the natural chemicals don't react negatively: it retains it's naturally yummy flavor on tofu, but it would ruin real meat if you put it in the dish. Oregano is your best bet, bro, trust me: I know that much from a little testing and personal experience."

"Okay, oregano it is!" Patrokalos exclaimed, rubbing his chin as he went deep into thought about how he would make the meal taste delicious if it had meat in it. Raven watched him with a cocked eyebrow, wondering if he was clinically insane for even trying to talk to her, but then she glanced at her teammates to see that they were all hiding snickers of amusement. She instantly felt her irritation spike, and a vein popped out in her forehead.

"I have a question," Robin stated, getting up to clear the table with the help of Cyborg and the blondes. "Patrokalos and Persephone, do you think you would be okay with joining us in a training session in thirty minutes? We won't force you to do this with us, but it would be a good idea to learn how to fight better against the enemies who may pop up from time to time."

"Uh, I dunno about that," Patrokalos instantly stated, frowning worriedly. "I mean, I don't think we—"

"—should waste anymore time, so let's get down to business," Persephone calmly finished, making her brother glance at her in surprise before he smiled a little and nodded the go-ahead that meant he was okay with it if she was. "If you want my personal opinion, I'm perfectly fine with a… uh, training session since I'm pretty sure you won't use our powers for… evil."

"Are you sure?" Robin asked, lifting his eyebrows in pleasant surprise. "The training in itself is still pretty rough."

"As long as my brother can do it with me, we'll be fine!" the blonde girl exclaimed, flashing them a tiny thumbs-up and a cheerful wink. "Trust me!"

Even though it was getting dark, the Titans decided to use the same obstacle course they'd tested Terra with: it had been beaten up pretty badly by the blonde girl the first time she'd tried, but Cyborg had fixed it up long since then. The bionic boy turned on the tall stadium lights around the course, brightening the entire area.

"Alright!" Cyborg said, pushing the twins to the starting line. "Out of curiosity, we have voted that you two are up first!"

"Okay, we can do this," Patrokalos snorted, clasping his hands behind his head. "I think..."

His sister merely squared her small shoulders and puffed her cheeks out with an exaggerated expression of determination.

However, the moment a set of cannons began to fire lasers at them, the girl squeaked like a terrified mouse and blasted herself into the air with her brother—both twisting like airborne ballet dancers as they clasped hands. The twins began to sing in harmony when they landed, voices coming out high and sweet as they jumped again and flew past the cannons with their free arms outstretched. A flash of light twinkled around their wrists only a split second before they passed the weapons.

All of the blasters slid askew after the blondes flew by, abruptly exploding in a spray of fire and metal with no warning whatsoever.

The twins had destroyed them at such a high speed that the other Titans hadn't even seen it happening.

Big fist-ended shafts of metal started jutting randomly from the ground in the twins' path when they propelled themselves into the air again. Patrokalos and Persephone spiraled around using each other's arms and sliced through them easily, going at an incredibly fast speed. In the next section, the two of them had to jump through gates that would fall the moment something passed beneath them. The twins flipped under the first and second gate without incident, but as they were passing beneath third they were forced to draw on their destructive energy.

They both knew they wouldn't make it under in time, so they let out a set of harmonious notes that froze the metal with a wall of water.

Then the twins shattered it using their concussive abilities. Patrokalos bolted toward his sister when they landed in different areas, twisting on his side and rolling over her back as he dodged a swinging blade. The girl grabbed her brother's arm and flipped over his head, sending her leg straight down on top of the deadly weapon and crushing it with her heel. The twins then formed an energy cocoon and ran as several disk launchers began barraging them; they dodged the first few, sliced the next few into halves, and destroyed the launchers as they went by.

Soon they were at the finish line.

"Yay, yay, yay!" Persephone squealed, jumping around and clapping her hands together with a fit of laughter. "We did it!"

"We actually did it like the professionals, sis!" Patrokalos laughed, lifting his sister into his arms and spinning her around as she squealed with laughter. "We just ran a superhero's obstacle course and made it to the other end without a problem!"

"Did you see those _lasers?!"_ the girl gushed, clutching her brother's cheeks with wide, sparkling eyes. "They were _real_ laser guns! I didn't even think those things really existed since I've only seen them in Star Wars and Star Trek, but they were _real!_ Real laser guns, Patty, _real!"_

"Yeah, I saw them," the blonde boy snorted, rolling his electric blue eyes with an amused smile. "You little nerd."

"Nope," the girl sniffed, turning away with her nose in the air. "I told you: I'm an intellectual, not a nerd."

All of the Titans stared at their time during the run: the twins had shattered Robin's record by nearly three minutes, which was an almost frightening feat since he was the best at beating the courses. Instead of taking three minutes and forty six seconds, they had beat it in only 28 seconds, total: they looked down at the twins to see that they were now sitting happily on the ground and chatting about the amazing course while they waited to see how they'd scored.

"I think those two would make damn good Titans," Cyborg said slowly, looking at the other team members in disbelief. "I think it's time to show them."

The twins were still chatting about the concept of lasers when the Titans glanced back down at them, only now the girl was jabbing her brother's ribs and he was giving her a playful noogie. Both of them knew the Titans were debating whether or not they should be on the team, but they weren't expecting anything remarkable. However, they became so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't hear them walk up. So, as to be expected, both twins flinched and quickly covered their heads when someone touched their shoulders. After a moment, they slowly relaxed and stood up, staring at the Titans expectantly.

To their intense alarm, all of the Titans looked grim.

"Persephone and Patrokalos D'Andesyrius," Robin said grimly. "We have something to show you ."

"You have to show us something?" Patrokalos asked, frowning in puzzlement.

"What would that be?" Persephone quipped, cocking her head to the side with a look of confusion on her face.

"Your predecessor," Robin replied, and the faces of both twins instantly went blank with confusion.

Ten minutes later, however, the twins were standing in a stone cavern with the rest of the Titans.

"This is Terra," Beast Boy said as the twins stood before the statue, blue eyes slowly becoming vacant with horror. "The Sixth Titan..."

"Eh...?" Percy whispered, eyes shining with stunned disbelief. "No way..."

The blondes were now looking at a stone girl, but their horrified eyes couldn't seem to look away from her familiar stone face: they couldn't deny that she was familiar to them somehow. Persephone slowly forced her body to turn around and faced the Titans, blue eyes wide with an unfathomable emotion. Both twins looked as though they were trying to hold something back... something that was fighting to claw its way to the surface.

It was an unnerving expression, but only one Titan noticed it.

Raven was seeing something very odd indeed: she had realized that the pure feeling to the girl's aura was wavering, and after glancing at the boy, she saw the same thing was happening to him. She tried to make contact with Percy's mind, but she was thrown from it by a repelling force the moment she entered. The Empath's violet eyes widened when she recollected her thoughts: what she had seen of the girl's mind was a cyclone of emotional turmoil that was somehow linked telepathically to her brother… but she had also sensed another, _much_ darker presence that had latched onto the powerful link the twins shared with each other.

The Empath slowly compared the twins' minds to her own and realized that the blondes were almost exactly like her.

Only their problem was different... and in way that was utterly strange to her, since they were full-blooded angels: not half demons.

"This is Terra?" Patrokalos asked, voice sounding haunted. "This is the Terra you were talking about, Persephone?"

"About one year ago," Robin explained, staring hard at the boy's pale face when he turned back around, "we met a girl with superpowers named Terra, and she didn't have anywhere to call home… so, we invited her to train with us. After seeing what she could do, we asked her to become a Titan but she freaked and ran off because she couldn't control her powers. She came back eight months ago with complete control and claimed that she had been training the whole time. She became the sixth Teen Titan: we trusted her and she was part of our team, but we learned too late that she was working for Slade, our greatest enemy. Slade sent an army of his robots to attack us, but while we were fighting, Terra disappeared with him."

"What?!" Patty gasped, eyes widening in horror. "Are y-you talking about the same Slade that's been c-chasing us for so long?!"

"Possibly," Robin quietly allowed, narrowing his eyes behind his mask. "We don't know that much yet, but I figure we'll find out."

"Not long after that, Terra attacked us directly," Beast Boy continued, face becoming depressed. "She nearly destroyed every one of us and allowed Slade to take over the city. We came back on the offensive and defeated her, but she got back to Slade and he managed to take control of her powers since she was having second thoughts about hurting us. We just managed to convince her to fight back—and she sent Slade straight into an ancient volcano that she had accidentally triggered to life. She sacrificed herself to save the city, and that's why she's here now. We've been looking for a way to bring her back from this."

The second Robin and Beast Boy finished the story, Raven sensed a surge of power and a feeling of danger filled her awareness.

Persephone unexpectedly covered her mouth with both hands as her eyes widened, and she fell to her knees before slamming her palms on the stone floor of the cave; Patrokalos jerked several times, arms twitching at an odd angle as he grit his teeth and made a strangled noise that didn't fit his gentle personality. A second later he joined his sister on all fours, breathing hard and shaking violently as a red light engulfed their forms; when the twins looked back up, even Cyborg went pale at the sigh of their faces: their beautiful blue irises had shifted to a frightening crimson and they had fangs almost an inch long poking out of their mouths.

Their appearances looked more demonic than angelic at the moment.

"You still want to bring her back even after she betrayed and attacked you idiots?!" Persephone shrieked, shaking with rage as her pretty face contorted with hatred. "How do you know she won't do it again?! You don't understand how weak you mortals are, do you?! Here's a tip, you idiots: forget about this Terra girl before you make the biggest mistake of your lives!"

"You stupid bitch!" Beast Boy shouted, face twisting into a snarl. "She was our friend—and nobody, not even a _traitor,_ deserves to be turned to stone! What the hell do you know about her, huh?! Were _you_ here when she sacrificed everything to save our lives?! You don't have a god damn _right_ to tell us about what to forget!"

_"You're_ the bitch, green boy," Patrokalos hissed, face sliding into a horrible sneer. "Patrokalos and Persephone knew the pretty little rock up there on a much more personal level than you ever could, so don't tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about when _you_ obviously don't even know who the hell you're _talking_ to. I doubt… _stop it_… that even… _no, get_… these children wins know what they… _out of my head! Get out of my head!_ Stop it!"

"—truly are on the… _no more…_ inside," Persephone finished, squeezing her crimson eyes shut as her arms buckled and she collapsed. "Stop! Get out of our heads!"

Patrokalos had a similar fit and let out another choking noise, rearing back and clawing at his hair as he fought against his own mind. Beast Boy continued to glare at the twins as they struggled back into their normal forms, fighting off the sinister presence and whining in dismay as their breathing became labored. Eventually the twins won the internal battle and their bodies went limp from exhaustion; they lay on the stone floor as soft sounds of discomfort escaped their lips.

The Titans were utterly disturbed by what had just occurred.

"Having fun over there?" Beast Boy muttered, still irked by their accusations toward Terra.

_"Shut up,"_ Raven hissed, shooting the changeling such a ferocious glare that he clamped up in fright; then she crouched next to them. "What I just witnessed has finally confirmed my initial suspicions... so now, I need to know the entire truth: how strong is your… shared... second personality?"

"I… I didn't mean it!" Patrokalos abruptly hiccuped, covering his face to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't hurt us," Persephone choked out, shaking violently as tears began streaming down her pale cheeks. "Don't hurt us! We'll be good!"

"It's okay," Cyborg stated uncomfortably.

"No, it isn't okay!" Persephone wailed, violently flinging her hair around and clutching her head with terror in her electric blue eyes. "Our powers could kill _all_ of you if we ever lost control like we did back in the canyon! We're too strong! We can't control our abilities! Plus. if we think the wrong thing at any time, the Angel of Wrath could surface and all of you could be slaughtered within the span of a single second! Unlike regular people, angels have two souls: one good, and one evil!"

"I sensed a dark presence in your minds, one that is somehow a part of the link you and your brother share," Raven noted, drawing the Boy Wonder's attention to their conversation. "I can also see that your emotions are in a constant state of turmoil, although the reason behind that fact is unclear, so if what you said about having two souls is true… maybe I can help the two of you with the control you seem to be lacking."

"We'll all help," Robin added, kneeling next to the twins and putting his hands on their shoulders. "However, first we'll need you to tell us everything you can about yourselves… we won't know how to help you if you won't tell us everything."

"Well, in all honesty, my sister and I are different from the normal angels of our kind, because we both share a soul even though we're separate beings," Patrokalos hesitantly explained, moving to a sitting position and staring unhappily at the ground. "We can't go any farther than ten miles from each other, otherwise we'll collapse without warning. When we're angry, we can conjure fire and the destructive elements of nature more easily, but those are the times that we're quick to lose control to the evil inside us. When we're happy, we become much closer to nature and the world around us blooms with life all over the place. Literally. On top of that, the two of us can also breathe under water… but only when we're feeling sad enough to cry. Trust me, we've been... tested on that particular ability."

"Really?" Robin asked, furrowing his brow in confusion when the blonde boy nodded and vaguely averted his eyes. "I see..."

"Also, when we sing, we can do virtually anything we put our minds to: the sound of our voices put together in song has the ability to distort reality, even the essence of time and space, but only to a limited degree," Persephone added, clutching her arms. "With our elemental abilities… well, I can create lightning but I can't control it on my own: that's my brother's forte. Water, fire, air, and everything else you've seen so far has the same principle: he can create it, I can control it; I can create it, he can control it. All in all, the two of us need to be touching each other physically in order to use our abilities to the full extent of their power…"

"Otherwise," Patrokalos finished, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head, "our energy is cut down by half and our control becomes warped: we're dangerous without each other, since we need to be touching in order to stay in control of our powers. Things spiral out of whack if we don't, trust me."

"I'm glad you told us all of that," Robin murmured as he and Raven helped the twins to her feet. "I'm certain we can come up with ways to help you."

When the Titans began to make their way back to the Tower, Raven came up beside Percy and poked her twitching ear: she had noticed that the twins had been hiding the elf-like appendages until the moment Patrokalos had tied his hair in a ponytail. She found it amusing that they'd tried to hide them for so long.

"I understand what you're going through," Raven said quietly, keeping her face blank when the blonde girl flinched and clamped a hand on her ear with a wide-eyed expression; she looked afraid, almost as though she expected the hooded girl to hit her or something. "My powers are unleashed by emotion, too, and the only way I can control them is by controlling my feelings. I've gotten pretty good at meditation, so maybe I can help you and your brother with your individual control."

"You hold back all of your emotions without having your powers blow up in your face?" Persephone asked, staring at the hooded girl with an expression of mesmerized awe; her blue eyes literally started sparkling in wonder. "That's totally amazing! Controlling our own emotions is the biggest problem!"

"You're the first person who's ever been impressed by that," Raven noted with a look of mild surprise; after a moment of blinking at the naive blonde, the Empath actually smiled a little at the praise. Robin and Starfire, who were walking behind them and observing their conversation, noticed the grin and nearly had simultaneous aneurisms from the shock of seeing it. The last time they'd seen a smile on Raven's face was the day the world had almost come to and end.

"Raven's never taken to anyone this fast," Robin scoffed, blinking rapidly behind his mask. "Heck, it took her almost six months for her to smile at the four of us for the first time, and that girl made her grin on their first day together! This is incredible!"

"Yes, it seems as though the two of them shall become very good friends," Starfire agreed, blissfully unaware of how important and shocking the situation was. Cyborg paused and glanced around when he noticed someone from their team was missing, but after a moment he saw that Beast Boy was trailing far behind and slowed down so he could walk beside him. The green-skinned youth didn't even notice it when the bionic boy looked down at him.

"Hey, Buddy," Cyborg joked, nudging his shoulder with a grin, "what's up with the gloomy face?"

"Maybe they were right," the changeling muttered absently.

"About what?" Cyborg asked, blinking at the lanky teenager in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Terra," Beast Boy replied dejectedly, "maybe Percy and Patty were right and she _will_ betray us again."

"Man, what's wrong with you?" Cyborg exclaimed, looking completely shocked by the boy's statement. "You've been looking harder than anyone for a way to bring her back! They said they didn't mean it! That's just the way their dark side is!"

"Yeah, you're right," Beast Boy sighed, giving his best friend a shrug. "I shouldn't worry so hard, I guess."

However, he was silent the rest of the way home.

The Titans and the twins walked into the Tower around eleven o' clock at night, heading into the same hallway to go to their rooms: however, Persephone instantly froze and stood staring at the outside of Terra's door. The others all stopped and looked at her; she had long since dried her tears, but a tight expression had worked its way into her sparkling blue eyes.

"I… I can't stay in her room after what I said about her," the blonde girl murmured, turning her face away from the door without looking at them. "May I just sleep on the couch for now? Patrokalos, you wouldn't mind if I did that, would you?"

"It's your choice, not mine," the blonde boy snorted, although he still looked a little concerned.

"Of course you can, Percy: I'll get you a blanket," Robin sighed; the other Titans said goodnight to each other and entered their individual rooms while Persephone followed the Boy Wonder to the main room. When she sat down on the couch with a groan, the black-haired youth handed her the blanket and said goodnight. He was just about to leave the common room when the sound of the girl's voice shocked him into stopping.

He listened intently, but he was totally unprepared for what she said.

"Thank you for taking us in, Robin," she called. "My brother and I… we're grateful, and we'll do our best to help out."

"You're welcome…" he sighed, shaking his head with a deep frown, "and good night."

Persephone turned to look out the window when he closed the door, but the second she was sure he was gone, she buried her face in her knees and began to cry. She cried for her fallen sisters; she cried for the people she had caused suffering in the last few hours; but most of all, she cried for herself and her brother, because they were all alone and they couldn't fully trust anyone except themselves.


	5. Chapter 4: The Harmony Twins

**Chapter Four: The Harmony Twins**

After he'd gotten Persephone her blankets, Robin headed back to his room... but when he opened the door, he was startled to find Cyborg waiting for him.

"What are you doing in here?" the Titan Leader demanded, blinking a few times under his mask. "You almost never come into my room without permission..."

"Robin, something is definitely wrong," Cyborg pensively explained, glancing down at his electronic arm and carefully examining something he had been recording; his eye narrowed and he looked at it very, very closely. "According to the medical scan I ran on the twins when we were back in the slums... they have a ton of injuries that didn't happen by accident hidden beneath their clothes. Judging by the way some of the scars and cuts look on my scanner, someone tried to kill them multiple times. Those kids were in a life-or-death fight, man: someone shot at them with rifles, that much I'm sure of... although, after the bullets were poorly deflected by something: judging by the large amount of metal shards that are still buried in their backs, the twins were seriously injured by the shrapnel."

"Somebody tried to kill them?" Robin demanded, blinking in surprise. "That doesn't fit my suspicions at all."

"I heard a report on the radio a few months ago that two naked teenagers walked up onto the beach, seemingly coming right up out of the sea," Cyborg hesitantly explained, frowning as he thought over what he'd heard. "Witnesses say that that the teenagers were twins: a girl with short blonde hair and a boy who looked almost completely identical to her. Their first words upon regaining total consciousness were, 'He's going to kill us! Stay away! Let us die or he'll hurt you, too!' but they passed out afterwards and were taken to Jump City Hospital. A nurse there claims she was attacked by a very similar set of twins who were wearing large sweaters and overly baggy jeans, but the suspects vanished without a trace after those three particular incidents… that is, until now."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Robin demanded with a scowl.

"I was expecting an answer more like, 'brief me on the rest of the situation,'" Cyborg muttered, shaking his head with an irritable expression. "Yo, Rob, their first words after waking up were, 'he's going to kill us!' I mean, doesn't that worry you at all? Two injured kids literally walked out of the ocean and shrieked that an unknown man was going to kill them, and they begged for the people helping them to let them die! That doesn't seem strange or worry you?"

"If you put it that way, yeah—it does sound alarming," Robin confirmed, giving him a curt nod, "but then again, we won't have a clue what they were talking about until they decide to talk about it. So, if you've finished interrogating me, please leave my room."

"Do you know what I first thought when Persephone caught my attention?" Cyborg asked, ignoring the Boy Wonder's command in favor of a steely glare. "For a few seconds... I honestly thought I was looking at Terra, that she had somehow revived herself and had come to our rescue. I literally saw Terra saving Beast Boy for almost ten seconds before my mind clicked on. I'm sure you noticed their similarities as well... but after everything we've seen so far, especially with those murders in Sunnyside Canyon, how could you believe for a second that they would ever work for Slade? What exactly are you suspecting, Robin?"

"That's none of your business," Robin replied coldly, not meeting the robot's eyes. "I have to keep an open mind: they are worthy of my full trust just yet."

"Whatever you say, man," Cyborg retorted, shrugging and getting up to leave. "Just keep in mind that those kids aren't Terra: don't force her image on them."

He quickly walked out of the bedroom, but after the electronic doors had hissed shut, the Boy Wonder's stony facade dissolved. His head thumped against the wall as he slumped down on his bed, and a feeling of remorse tore through him as he remembered Beast Boy's reaction to Terra's sacrifice. By the time the masked hero fell asleep, it was one in the morning and the Tower was almost completely silent. However, the door to Beast Boy's room was closing, and the green-skinned teenager was slowly walking to the main room. When the changeling opened the door, he saw Persephone sitting on the couch with the blanket Robin had given her still folded up neatly: she was staring out the windows and hadn't even attempted to sleep.

Letting out a sigh of dismay, Beast Boy jumped over the back of the couch and sat down next to her with a soft groan.

"Hello," Percy questioningly greeted, glancing at him with a blank expression. "Couldn't sleep?"

"No, it's not that," he replied, rubbing the his neck with an uncomfortable look on his face. "Look… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for everything that happened with you and your brother earlier. I shouldn't have cussed at you guys, and I feel nasty for making you… cry."

"Don't even try it!" Persephone instantly retorted, making him stiffen a bit. "Beast Boy, I should be the one apologizing right now, not you! I'm really, really, really sorry! I didn't have any right to say awful things about Terra! I don't even know her! I'm just… sorry!"

"It's okay, really!" the changeling protested, looking at her when she drew her legs up to her chest and began to cry. "Raven yelled at me before she went to sleep and told me that you and your brother weren't in control of yourselves! She made it clear that it wasn't your fault!"

"That doesn't make it okay," Percy retorted dejectedly, blue eyes sad; they sat together in silence for several long moments before the blonde girl lifted her head and looked at him: he watched as her large eyes flitted across his face, taking in his olive green skin and protruding right fang before her gaze settled on his ears. An amazed expression washed over her face and she timidly reached out to touch the pointy tip: his eyes widened when she cocked her head and traced her hands over the shape of both ears before touching her own. With a fascinated expression, she gently ran her fingers over his face and touched his dark green hair in curiosity… but when she tried to touch his fang, he abruptly clutched her bony wrists and held them in place.

"Dude, what are you doing?" he demanded, unable to stop the goose bumps from rising on his arms.

"I only wanted to see if you were the same as me! Really! Your ears are like mine!" she squeaked, instantaneously flinching away from his other hand. After blinking and glancing at her elfish appendages, recognition about why she was curious flared up in his eyes and he sighed, letting go of her arms; she jerked back with a violent shiver and nervously stared at the ground. "Will you guys ever be able to trust me and my brother after what happened with… um, Terra?"

Beast Boy didn't know what to say when she bit her lip and waited for his answer.

He wasn't used to being asked serious questions—but then again, Persephone didn't really know that he was the joker of the team: she was new, after all.

"You earned some of our trust by saving our lives," the changeling stated thoughtfully, then added with a grin, "now you just have to be yourself, I guess—which means not hiding your pointy ears beneath your hair anymore. Besides, if Raven trusts you… we all can."

"Thanks, Beast Boy," Persephone replied, looking back out the windows. "I'm glad that all of you decided to help us."

"You haven't had a real home in a long time, have you?" he asked with a solemn expression; instead of hearing one of her cheeky replies, he got his answer when she covered her face to hide her eyes. "I thought so… you really are a lot like Terra. It's actually almost kind of creepy how similar the two of you are."

"W-what do you mean?" Persephone asked, not sure if this was a good thing or not. "How exactly am I like Terra?"

"She didn't have a home either, until she came here," the boy explained, sadly staring out the window. "We found her living in a cave... all alone."

"My brother and I were living in an apartment, though," Percy hesitantly pointed out. "Plus, we... we had each other."

She didn't really want to add that the building they'd been living had no ceiling, electricity, or running water.

"Still, you lived in the bad part of the city, right?" Beast Boy sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I think its a very similar situation to hers."

"You were close to her, weren't you?" Persephone whispered quietly, eyes widening at the realization. "Did you… did you love her?"

"Yeah, I-I did," Beast Boy said, giving her a jerky nod. "I was her best friend, and I trusted her more than anyone else on the team. She was the first person to see me as something more than an idiot who likes to make people laugh. She was the first person who ever hugged me without shying away from my green skin and animalistic appearance… she made me feel normal for a while, almost like I was a regular guy instead of the goofy class clown everyone knows me as."

"I'm sorry," Persephone said sympathetically; she also knew what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you loved. It wasn't a pleasant feeling at all, and she could only imagine how badly Terra's betrayal was tearing up his heart. He may have seemed like a giddy person on the outside, but she'd been through enough pain herself to recognize a mask when she saw one. "I... won't say that I completely understand your pain, because I don't, but... well, I feel for you."

"Yeah... anyway, I'm gonna go back to bed," the hero stated with a shrug, jumping over the back of the couch again. "G'night."

"Wait!" Persephone squeaked, leaping to her feet and standing there with clenched fists and shaking shoulders.

Beast Boy stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around to acknowledge her command: Persephone slowly padded over to the changeling and hugged him from behind. She held him like that for about a minute before she turned around and went back over to the couch. After he was gone, she sighed sadly and lay down on one of the cushions before staring blankly up at the ceiling: she didn't think she would ever be able to sleep with her clothes on, so—after deciding that nobody would ever know if she'd slept nude just this once—Persephone carefully began taking off the hooded t-shirt she'd gotten right out of Terra's room.

She was just about to take off her bra and underwear when the hiss of the opening door made her freeze; whipping around when a glass teacup shattered on the ground, Percy saw that Raven was staring straight at her back with wide eyes and a pale hand clamped over her mouth. Her violet eyes were huge and she appeared to be completely stunned by what she was seeing.

"KYAAAH!" Persephone shrieked, hastily falling back against the couch and covering herself up with the blanket. "No! This isn't what it looks like! I swear!"

When Raven abruptly glanced away from her, she wasn't thinking about the blonde girl's indecency; she'd turned away because she'd seen the state of her body. Persephone's slender back was ripped and scarred—almost as though she had been beaten and savagely abused by someone. The worst part was the fact that some of those scars were still scabbed over, which meant that the girl had been hurt very, very recently—as little as mere days prior to her arrival at the Tower. Nervously staring at the wall, the blonde shakily wrapped the blanket around herself: she was so embarrassed that she wanted to hide under a rock.

Struggling to stay calm, Raven used her powers to grab the shattered fragments of her cup and turned around.

"Those scars… didn't come from an accident," Raven rasped quietly, still feeling absolutely mortified by what she'd just witnessed by accident. "Is that why you're so afraid to let people come near you? Is it because you think we'll… hurt you?"

Persephone instantly froze and turned to look at her: her expression reminded Raven of a kitten that had once been slapped for no reason.

"Listen… I don't know what happened to you and Patrokalos, or even why you have so many scars, and unless you want to talk to me about it, I won't push you to tell me anything," Raven croaked out, giving the girl an uneasy look. "Still… just, try to remember that not all of us are like that, okay? Even though I'm… crude, and not really the best at expressing myself, I promise you that I will never, _ever_ intentionally hurt you or your brother. I… I'm sorry for walking in on you like this."

Persephone's face screwed up and she abruptly buried her head in her hands; after a few moments of watching the blonde girl try to hide her tears, Raven left the room feeling somewhat ill and much more sympathetic about the plight of their new teammates. She'd figured that the twins had been abused by someone because of the jumpy way they'd been acting, but she hadn't believed that the blondes could have been through something so awful that it had given Persephone such terrible scars. And even worse, she had a horrible suspicion that Patrokalos had very similar injuries on his body since the two of them were always together. The thought of that made her feel sick to her stomach, and she decided to wait a little longer to learn about the twins' past as she slowly went back to her room.

Going through their memories seemed a little less enticing after what she'd just seen.

After a few moments of huddling on the couch, the blonde girl slipped her clothes back on and headed out of the common room towards the bedrooms. Her footfalls were nearly silent on the carpeted red floors, and when she came to her brother's room, she gently knocked and waited for an answer. There was no reply, so the girl merely let herself in and leaned against the door, rubbing her streaming eyes and sniffling. Patty's room was extremely bare aside from a disused bed, a dresser full of clothes that had once belonged to Speedy, and other generic furniture.

The blonde boy was lying on the bed with his eyes closed and his hair curling around his ears: he looked as exhausted as Percy felt.

Shivering violently, the blonde girl slowly moved forward and slid onto the mattress beside him, snuggling under the covers and pressing her back against his: warmth immediately engulfed her being and she instantly felt relaxed. Her muscles slowly began to feel heavy and her tired eyes slid closed: in the end, she'd felt safest beside her twin brother... the place she'd been from the very beginning. Hopefully, things would get better... but her heart was weak.

She didn't have much hope.

**TXXXXXT**

The next day, Patrokalos bolted upright just before sunrise, feeling as though he'd had a nightmare without knowing why.

After groggily blinking at his unfamiliar surroundings and wondering where the hell he was, the boy remembered the events of the previous day and relaxed. He glanced down at his sister when he noticed the warmth emanating from his side, eyes softening as he brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead. After looking out the window and realizing how early it was, Patty didn't think any of the Titans would be awake, so he slipped out from under the covers and tucked his sister in. Then he went up to the roof in the hopes of clearing his mind of the lingering fear that plagued it. When he got there, however, he found Starfire already sitting near the edge and waiting for the sun to rise. For a moment, he blinked in total amazement: she truly was a beautiful girl, all things considered.

"Good morning," Patrokalos quietly greeted, catching the pretty alien's attention. "Do… you mind if I join you?"

"Oh, greetings!" Starfire exclaimed, smiling excitedly at the blonde before she patted the edge of the tower. "I do not mind, not at all! Sit with me, new friend!"

"Thank you," Patrokalos murmured, taking a seat next to the redhead. "Um, where exactly are you from, Starfire? Cyborg said... that you were a real alien."

"Oh, I grew up on the planet Tamaran! It is a wonderful place with many pleasant customs and traditions, but Earth is my home now and I could never leave it after experiencing all of its wonders," Starfire replied softly, rose red hair twisting in the breeze. "Are you from Earth as well, Friend Patty?"

"I don't know," the blonde boy explained, giving a small shrug of confusion; he didn't lift his eyes when the redhead stared at him. "Considering me and my sister are... angels... I'd have figured that we're supposed to be up in heaven right now, so who can really say? Anyway… what's going on between you and Robin?"

"What?" Starfire asked sharply, glancing at him with startled eyes. "Going on? I fear I do not understand what you mean."

"So, the two of you aren't dating?" Patrokalos asked, feeling genuinely surprised. "You both look like you're in love, though."

"Dating?" Starfire laughed, turning back to the sunrise. "No, Robin and I are just friends."

"I see," Patrokalos droned, turning away and staring at the ocean with disturbed blue eyes. "You know, you guys have the perfect place to watch the sunrise."

"Indeed," Starfire sighed, tilting her head back with a blissful smile. "I come up here often."

"Does Robin come up here with you?" Patty teased, smiling despite the feeling of impending danger in his gut.

"Sometimes," Starfire giggled, but then she caught herself and explained, "but during those times, he merely explains Earth's culture to me."

"Starfire, may I tell you something?" Patrokalos abruptly asked, glancing up at the alien girl with worried blue eyes; the Tamaranian Princess smiled broadly and nodded eagerly, glad to be a part of something that had to do with 'the bonding' as she called it. Patty hunched inward before he timidly choked out, "I think… someone is going to try and kill me and my sister sometime soon, and it has me extremely on edge."

"What did you just say?!" Starfire squeaked, losing her balance and falling off of the Tower edge; she instantly flew back up and clutched Patrokalos's shoulders, staring at the trembling youth with large green eyes. "Who would do such a horrendous thing?! Please, new friend, you must tell me!"

"I have a feeling that you already know who he is," Patrokalos said quietly, eyes momentarily blanking out in terror, "and I have a really horrible feeling that he's looking for us again, but I don't know what to do. My sister is happy here, but I'm just… scared."

"Is it Slade?!" Starfire gasped, eyes widening in shock. "I must inform Robin about this! He will know what to do! We must all protect you!"

"No, don't!" Patty squawked, instantly clasping the alien's hands. "Promise me you won't tell anyone! Please! All I wanted was to ask you to look out for Percy just in case anything happens! The two of us are insanely powerful, but I'm more worried about her than myself, so please... please, just look after her! I chose to talk to you simply because you seemed like the easiest person to open up to... okay?"

"Fine... since you chose me, I shall give you my word that I will never break the bond of trust with you, Friend Patty," Starfire whispered, clamping both hands to her mouth as she resumed her seat. "I will do my very best to protect your sister in any way I can if such a situation arises! Nobody will touch her, I promise!"

At that moment, the door slammed and Robin stepped out—causing Patrokalos to let out a squawk and Starfire a squeal.

"Good morning, Starfire," he said softly, giving her a smile before turning to the blonde boy and quirking a suspicious eyebrow. "Sleep well, Patty?"

"Yep!" the blonde boy stammered; he looked at Starfire and smirked when he saw that the girl was blushing furiously.

"Good morning, Friend Robin," Starfire mumbled, staring at the sunrise with an awkward expression. "I did not expect you to come here today."

"Breakfast is almost ready," he said, walking over to them. "I came to let you know since you weren't in your room."

"What a glorious morning to partake in a breakfast with our friends!" Starfire nervously exclaimed, standing up so Robin wouldn't have to help her. Shrugging at her instinctive response, he offered a hand to Patrokalos in an attempt to help him up, but the skinny blonde boy flinched and jumped to his feet before silently bolting down the stairs like a spooked mouse. Both titans stared after him with raised eyebrows, not really used to seeing fearful reactions being directed towards them.

"Was it something I said?" Robin asked, staring after the blonde boy in confusion. "More importantly, what were you two just talking about?"

"It was nothing of importance," Starfire sighed before she, too, began walking down the stairs. "I think he is just feeling the hunger."

"If you say so," Robin murmured, pondering their odd behavior; eventually he simply shrugged it all off and followed the two of them. After two rounds of breakfast had been cleared from the table—Persephone had fixed up some non-dairy waffles with tofu eggs and bacon, but everyone had been stunned to find that she had, indeed, been correct in her accusations of tofu being delicious when it was cooked properly—Robin said that he had an announcement to make.

Persephone glanced up with nervous blue eyes, and Patrokalos almost seemed to freeze in place; he had been watching Starfire and observing her relationship with Robin all through breakfast: he could clearly tell that the alien girl was obviously head-over-heels for him, and Robin was way too friendly with her for them to just be friends, but at the same time... neither of them seemed to be aware of the other's feelings. It was a baffling situation that he didn't really understand.

The Boy Wonder stood at the end of the table and turned to the twins.

"The Titans have been talking," Robin stated, looking at the others until they nodded, "and we'd like to invite you to our team as Honorary Titans."

"Eh?" Persephone choked out, feeling extremely startled; after what she'd said about Terra, she'd been doubtful about whether they'd even want to be her friend, let alone invite her to be a part of their team. Letting out an excited squeak and shout, both blondes nodded vigorously and the Titans cheered as Robin handed each of them a communicator. Percy blinked and gently pressed it against her chest with both of her hands, glancing up at everyone present with big, watery blue eyes.

Patrokalos merely danced to himself, celebrating the fact that he was now wholly part of his new family

"Just remember, guys," Robin said sternly, fighting to hide a smile when they blinked. "This tower is your home now."

"You two put together are the Sixth Titan!" Beast Boy laughed. "You know, since you both share only one soul, or whatever."

"No," Patrokalos replied with a smile, revealing his glittering fangs for the first time, "we're the second Sixth Titan."

"What should we call ourselves?" Persephone suddenly asked, making her brother and the rest of the Titans blink at her in confusion and surprise. "Well, you know what I mean! I highly doubt that Robin, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg are your real names, so what should we call ourselves as superheroes? The Amazing Angels? The Musical Duo? What?"

"How about the Harmony Twins?" Patrokalos asked, glancing at his sister with bright eyes. "It has a nice ring to it, the majority of our powers are musical, and we always do things in harmony! The name fits… what do you think of it, Percy?"

"Ditto," the girl scoffed, blinking as a huge grin spread across her face. "The Harmony Twins are ready for duty!"


	6. Chapter 5: The Gift of Silent Songs

**Chapter Five: The Gift of Silent Songs  
**

Two weeks after they'd joined the Titans, Percy and Patty finally hit the gym with Robin for some training. Cyborg had finally perfected a training exercise for them involving special targets that were designed to resist their musical and elemental powers. Percy simultaneously watched Robin and her brother train themselves even as she pummeled a dummy with her frozen swords: after letting out a high-pitched musical note and slicing it in half with a wind blade, the blonde girl nimbly cart-wheeled away. After she righted herself, she cocked her head and watched as Robin sent a kick into his punching bag and it sent it swinging away; she waited for it to swing all the way back, but when it hit the top of its arc, she pulled a prank with an expression of giddy delight twinkling in her eyes.

"Hey, Robin!" Persephone called loudly, cupping her mouth. "What's going on between you and Starfire?"

His reaction was similar to the alien's: he turned sharply, eyes wide behind his mask, and managed to emit a shocked squeak before the punching bag swung back and knocked him clean off his feet. Persephone let out a squeal of laughter when her brother twitched and abruptly leapt into the air, catching the boy wonder under the arms and looking down at his shocked expression with a startled look after they landed. After a moment, however, he chuckled weakly and let out a sigh.

"Well, I guess love hurts," the blonde boy teased, sticking his tongue out and making a silly face. "Don't let my sister distract ya too much, okay?"

Face flaming bright red, Robin hastily pulled away from Patrokalos and stood up, dusting himself off after he'd climbed to his feet. The blonde boy instantly backed up a few steps and stood beside his sister sister: the two of them stood staring at their new leader with nearly identical expressions of innocence on their faces.

"Starfire and I aren't… I mean, I don't… but I'm not in l-l-l…" Robin stammered, red cheeks turning dark maroon; his tongue caught on the 'L' syllable, and after that he couldn't seem to finish his sentence. "Y-you've got it wrong... Star and I are just—"

"Friends?" Persephone squeaked, giggling as she bounded out the door.

"So we've heard!" Patrokalos finished, sighing as he followed her out of the room. "We'll be back after a break, okay?"

However, despite her bold actions, Persephone was secretly glad to see that their teasing hadn't affected anything between Robin and Starfire. Still, the two teens had started to avoid talking about each other whenever the twins were around due to a particular instance in which Starfire had been talking to Patrokalos and Raven. Starfire had said something about Robin being a wonderful friend, but the alien girl had abruptly stopped talking when she'd seen Persephone giggling with that silly 'this is too much fun' grin on her face. That particular grin usually meant she was up to some sort of mischief.

"I know you know that I know," Percy had cryptically giggled, effectively leaving Raven and her brother in the dark but making Starfire blush as red as her hair.

Percy and Patty had been Titans for nearly a month when the team presented their honorary hero outfits and some fighting tools to go with them. The group of Vigilantes had watched as the twins powers became stronger, observing how their mental control had solidified... and eventually growing happier that the twins had once again gotten everything they'd ever wanted: a family who loved their eccentric, mischievous, and childish personalities.

Patrokalos had quickly realized that he had a real talent in the areas of eating and playing video games—which had made him fast friends with Cyborg and Beast Boy. Persephone and Raven had become closer through their meditation training, and Robin was ever the gentleman towards _both_ twins and helped them train physically. Starfire, despite the fact that she was keeping Percy's secret, was the only person on the team that the twins hadn't really connected with yet. It wasn't because they didn't like Starfire; they just hadn't had a chance to get to know one another or connect with each other in some manner.

The event that solidified their friendship, however, appeared on their two month anniversary.

Along with working on their vocal skills in Cyborg's room, the twins had also begun meditating with Raven on a daily basis in a very hard attempt to gain control over their minds. They were very dedicated, but—as Raven had said countless times—it took constant practice. Still, even though the twins were progressing slowly, they was surely getting better. During one of those meditating sessions, Raven unexpectedly opened her eyes and turned to look at the blondes sitting next to her.

"You're doing much better, guys," the Empath rasped, tilting her head with a small sigh. "Let's take a break."

"Okay!" Patrokalos whole-heartedly agreed, glancing at his sister to see her nodding slowly. "Sounds like a good plan."

He knew that she'd never admit it, but the strain on Percy's mind was becoming greater the more she tried to hold it back.

"Hey, Raven?" Percy quietly asked, hooking an annoying strand of hair behind her ear. "Can I ask you something?"

"Um, sure," Raven hesitantly intoned, frowning a bit as she handed the girl and boy two extra cups of herbal tea: she figured it would be something about what she'd seen the other night, so she braced herself for whatever was about to come. "What is it?"

"Well, this is gonna sound weird, but..." Percy sighed, staring into her cup, "have Robin and Starfire always been completely crazy for each other?"

"What?!" Raven croaked in surprise, very nearly choking on her tea. "Um… yeah. Pretty much."

"Thank the lord!" Patrokalos immediately chuckled, sarcastically rolling his eyes. "I thought I was the only one who'd noticed."

"Wait, why aren't they together if they like each other so much?" Persephone inquired, frowning in confusion. "It feels really weird to me, honestly."

"They're both too shy to tell each other," Raven stated curtly, giving the blonde an expressionless shrug. "I suppose they're also afraid of rejection."

"And nobody's ever given them a hint that neither would refuse a date?" Patrokalos asked, blinking in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"Oh, all of us have," Raven sighed, rolling her eyes. "They're just clueless."

"Yeah... they need to save that kind of drama for soap Operas," Persephone scoffed; Raven blinked and fought not to smirk. "We definitely shouldn't mess with them, though… they're such a cute couple that I would hate to mess up their relationship."

"That's probably a good idea, all things considered," Raven replied, frowning when Percy took a drink of her tea and nearly choked on it. Her eyes narrowed when the blonde girl stared off into space for a moment. "What's wrong, Persephone? Is something wrong with the tea I made?"

"No... actually, it's kind of the opposite: it's really yummy!" the blonde girl quietly explained. "It has a taste that gives off a soothing feeling... similar to green tea, but different and much less bitter. It has a softer and more floral flavor... oh, er... have you ever tried green tea before? "

"No," Raven deadpanned, giving a simple shake of her head. "I'm more partial to the healing effects of herbal."

"Well, the Japanese believe that green tea has astounding mystical properties," Percy stated thoughtfully, putting a finger to her chin as she tried to remember what she'd read in her cookbook. "The stuff about it healing flesh wounds faster is a bunch of nonsense, that much is true, but I have to agree that it can heal your state of mind. As for me, it usually has a very calming effect that leaves me feeling really sleepy, happy, and warm... I always get the tinglies afterwards."

"Yeah, and it's also good for insomnia," Patrokalos added, sipping on his own tea with a pensive expression. "Korean people use it for mental disorders."

For the first time in her life, Raven actually began debating trying another kind of tea, although she didn't say anything to the twins about it. She didn't want them to know that she had taken a firm liking to them, or even how quickly those emotions had sprung up, so she remained distant: Terra was still firmly on her mind, and the fact that the twins resembled the fallen blonde made her feel uneasy. After the tea was finished, the three of them regained their meditation posture and closed their eyes. However, Cyborg abruptly startled the three of them by bursting into the room with Starfire, Robin, and Beast Boy close behind.

"Mail call!" he shouted, immediately causing Raven to fall out of the air with a startled cry; the simultaneously twins leapt behind the couch with synchronized shrieks of alarm and cowered in each other's arms. All three of them absolutely _hated_ being startled. "We got lots of it today!"

"I told you not to _do_ that!" Raven stated irritably, violet eye twitching violently as she glared. "I don't even want to know what we got in the mail! Don't you remember what happened to us the last time we accepted fan mail? You boys were possessed, Starfire and I ended up switching bodies, and the city was almost taken over by a puppet! We do not need to take part in something as pointless as accepting mail from total strangers!"

"But dude, we got legitimate fan mail this time," Beast Boy exclaimed, digging through the box and pulling out a letter. "See? Even you have admirers, Raven! This one is for you, and it's got little hearts doodled around the front of it!"

"I said I don't want it," the demon girl retorted flatly, pulling her hood up before glaring at the changeling. "Burn it in the basement incinerator."

Percy and Patty slowly poked their heads up from behind the couch and watched with curious blue eyes as the Titans sorted through their mail.

After a few moments of hiding, though, Starfire noticed that they still hadn't come out and flew over with a giggle.

"Friends, why must you do the hiding all the time?" the redhead whispered mischievously, sinking down between the two of them and joining in with their hiding with a happy smile. "Is there a reason you shelter yourselves over here? You are not still afraid of us, yes?"

"Shhh!" Percy whispered gently, not taking her eyes off the Titans. "We're not hiding, we're observing."

"Yeah," Patty added just as quietly, blue eyes intense. "We wanna see how people are supposed to react to fan mail..."

After a moment of blinking at them in confusion, Starfire poked her head over the edge of the couch and tried to see what the twins found so interesting about watching the other Titans read their mail. Quite frankly, she didn't find anything about it particularly eventful, but maybe she simply didn't understand the way her newest friends felt. From the little she actually knew about them, the redhead came to the conclusion that she didn't really understand them all that much.

"EEK!" Persephone suddenly shrieked, clapping a hand to her forehead and abruptly jumping up from her spot. "NO!"

All of the Titans flinched and looked at her in surprise, even her twin brother, who stared up at her with an expression of shock and alarm.

"What is it, Percy?" the blonde boy stammered, blinking up at her like an owl. "Why'd you scream like that?"

"I forgot to go to the store today!" the blonde girl wailed, jumping up and down before clutching her hair in sheer horror. "I promised Beast Boy and Starfire that I'd make some more tofu for dinner, but I forgot to go buy more! I can't break any promises! I refuse to! Hang on, I'm gonna go get changed and run down to the supermarket before it closes! Raven and Patty, I'm really sorry, but I have to duck out on you for a little while! I'll be back soon, though, I promise!"

"We'll pick this up again after dinner, then," the hooded girl sighed, lips twisting up a little in barely-concealed amusement; she watched with hooded eyes as the blonde girl frantically waved her arms and darted out of the room. Her hurried departure left six confused teenagers in her wake.

"Uh, dude," Beast Boy murmured, looking at Patty with confused eyes, "we have tofu product in the basement freezer."

"Why didn't you say anything then? Now I have to go grab her before she jumps all the way down to the store!" Patrokalos scoffed, laughing as he got up and headed towards the door. However, just as he was about to pass Raven, he paused and flashed her a grin that made her blink. "Thanks for the lesson!"

"You're… welcome?" she asked, frowning in confusion when the boy continued on after his sister.

Later that night, however, Percy had created a masterpiece meal and the titans presented their gifts.

Both blondes, male and female, were completely shell-shocked after they were literally dragged out of their casual clothes and thrust into their new Titan outfits.

"And now that the gifts have both been handed and put on," Robin cheerfully exclaimed, holding up his pop can with a grin, "here is a toast to our newest and youngest members, Persephone and Patrokalos D'Andesyrius: the Harmony Twins!"

"Cheers!" the Titans cried in unison, lifting their cans and taking huge swigs.

Patrokalos, Beast Boy, and Cyborg didn't just take drinks, however; the three of them guzzled down their soda pop while the others waited for the first burp. Cyborg was the first, and he let loose with an incredible belch; Starfire clapped and Robin judged it as an eight. Beast Boy outstripped Cyborg, but just barely: his breath smelled like tofu, which made Starfire cough and Robin take off points for the smell. All eyes finally fell on Patrokalos, who had a look of utmost concentration on his face. After a moment, the blonde boy opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and released the mother of all burps. Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy cheered, Raven and Persephone rolled their eyes, and Robin gave it a ten. Patrokalos chuckled and stood up, giving a mocking bow.

"Hey, Cyborg?" Percy piped up, fingering the ribbon on the headphones he'd given her. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, little lady, ask away," the bionic boy laughed, grinning down at her in amusement.

"What are these headphones for?" the blonde girl quipped. "Also... how did you guys know we liked these kinds of clothes?"

"We've been watching the way you dressed," Robin explained, smirking at the blue-eyed girl. "We had your superhero outfits custom made to fit your specific clothing tastes, but I was sort of surprised that they turned out so well. Cyborg designed the outfits from something he saw on a music program he called '_The Vocaloids_'."

"I based the outfits off of two kids who called themselves Rin and Len Kagamine, from a program called 'Append,'" the bionic boy admitted, wiggling his eyebrows when the twins blinked at him in total confusion. "Rin and Len are supposedly two video game androids who were specifically made to sing. They're mirror images of each other in the bio I read, but I thought their uniforms would fit _you_ guys since the majority of your fighting powers are actually musical. It seemed like the perfect basis for your Titan uniforms, but I _will_ admit that I made some adjustments so it wouldn't look ridiculous on you. I think I did a better job than the Vocaloid artist did."

"Yes, they appear to be most wonderful," Starfire agreed, admiring the suits that resembled classy high-school uniforms. "A very glorious design!"

It was true: their uniforms were incredibly unique.

There was a sailor-like tank top for both Percy _and_ Patty, but the sleeves were disjointed from the shoulder and actually began just above the elbow. The sleeves themselves had a dark inner fabric that had literally attached to their skin with high-quality technology in order to keep the sleeves from sliding down or riding up. A sheer outer fabric also billowed around their arms in a pleasantly flared manner. The lower parts of the outfits were simple but effective: Percy had a somewhat cute skirt with fabric that matched the top of her uniform, while Patty had a matching, much more masculine-looking pair of shorts: several gleaming yellow ribbons extended out from their belt-loops, intertwining with the leg-sleeves that stretched down to the ground from just above their knees. The leg-sleeves were made of the same two-type fabric as the arm-sleeves, but they billowed out much more and extended all the way down to their ankles.

The ends of the billowing black cloth actually covered up the tops of their white combat boots.

"As for the headphones and necklaces I gave the two of you," Cyborg drawled, leaning forward and mischievously turning a dial on the girl's right ear; beautiful melodies instantly melted into the air, shocking the girl so thoroughly that she nearly fell out of her chair, "the headphones can transmit brainwaves holding musical tendencies: these tools will allow the music floating around inside your heads to take on a physical proportion. The necklaces are indestructible amplifiers that will strengthen your voices right along with your mental music: they automatically activate when you turn on the headphones."

"Oh my God!" Persephone squealed, clasping her brother's shoulders as violin music echoed out of the speakers and melted into the air. "Patty! P-Patty, this is the song we've been working on for forever! I'm thinking what I want it to be like right now and it's coming out the way I'm hearing it inside my head!"

"I recognize it..." Patrokalos excitedly exclaimed, listening for a moment before turning on his own headphones; the sound of a grand piano and several other unnameable things immediately joined in with the violin music. "Want to try singing it?"

Persephone hurriedly looked at the Titans for approval—only to see that all of them were experiencing different reactions to their mental music.

Raven's eyes were closed and she was swaying slightly, obviously liking the slightly classical tune; Beast Boy was drooling and he looked a bit dazed; Cyborg was staring at them with raised eyebrows, impressed by the fact that their harmonious music sounded amazing; Robin grinned and gently waved his hands, silently urging them to sing and try out their new equipment; and Starfire merely gaped at them with awed green eyes.

"Yeah, let's sing it," Percy agreed, taking her brother's hand as the opening music began to coalesce. The boy opened his mouth as his sister took a deep breath, but when the first lyrical notes left their lips in harmony… well, needless to say that every one of the Titans snapped to attention since it was the first time they'd ever heard the twins sing outside of combat. To put it simply, their voices were absolutely stunning;

_"My heart underneath… cries quietly_," Persephone sang, slowly opening her eyes with a faraway expression. "_This part of me… I choose not to see. __How many hearts must I break … for my own safety's sake? __How many more tears will stain… the lake full of my pain_?"

The music suddenly became fast with the sound of tambourines and flutes, giving everyone goosebumps.

_"My pain leaves it's trail... in moonlight so pale…_ _it's shadows they flow… in rivers and rivers!" _Patrokalos sang, harmonizing with his twin: both of their voices came out high and sweet as they intertwined the notes in a surreal-sounding duet. "_I'll put on my mask; I'll go where they ask… s__o I might once again see the Roses of May!" _

_"Staining my soul and stinging my eyes…_ _the red on my hands… won't wash away, wash away!_" Persephone trilled, taking the lead; she and her brother had reversed their placement notes so flawlessly that Beast Boy's jaw actually dropped open. "_Nowhere to run… from what I have done! __I'm no longer, no longer a Rose of May!"_

Percy's voice grew even softer, and Patty took this chance to harmonize his wordless counter-song a bit louder.

_"Fate now holds the Blade before you, mirrored in two children's eyes._ _Far from ourselves we flew into the perilous skies," _the twins sang, closing their eyes. "_Then you said, 'Follow the path before you: fear will fall and courage will rise. L__eave all your tears behind you: far from where innocence lies.'"_

Here the music radiating from the headphones all but dropped off, aside from a gentle instrument that sounded oddly like a harp: however, the acapella duet that Persephone and Patrokalos were creating was so flawless that their audience of five got gooseflesh all over and started shivering pleasantly.

_"In the cage of the Kings… there was no need for wings_..." Patrokalos quietly sang, locking eyes with each of the titans. "_They chained us to stone… from feathers to bone." _

_"__When you look at me... what do you see?" _Persephone trilled, eyes filling with haunted tears. _"T__his mask that I've weaved… is disfiguring me." _

For the next verse, the two of them sang together: Patrokalos finally joined in with his sister, deep voice adding creating a hum that mingled with his sister's sweet soprano. The boy's blue eyes had filled with tears and the girl's lips were trembling slightly: that alone filled the song with the pureness of the emotion they were putting into it. The two of them pressed their backs together and interlaced their fingers, tilting their heads back until they were touching.

_"Our pain leaves it's trail in moonlight so pale… it's shadows they flow… in rivers and rivers!" _the blondes sang in unison, making every titan stare. "_We'll put on our masks; we'll go where they ask… s__o we might once again see the Roses of May. Staining our souls and stinging our eyes, the red on our hands... won't wash away, wash away! ____Nowhere to run… from what we have done! We're no longer, no longer Roses of May! _Storm clouds are creeping closer; danger is drawing near! _Why are we not protecting all that we once held dear?! Now we must break free of all that held us: evil hands and painful tears. We're safest in each other's arms: together we'll conquer our fears!"_

The music finally died away aside from the harp: the twins slowly tightened their grips and sang the last verses together.

_"Led here by Fate; no longer afraid,"_ the twins sang softly, closing their eyes. _"So here now we lay… our Roses of May."_

The music slowly came to a halt and the twins glanced at each other with wide eyes: the possibility of just thinking music out loud was so incredible that they had to poke and pinch each other just to see if they were dreaming. However, the Titans abruptly leapt to their feet and began to clap and cheer for the performance—even Raven, who's mouth curled up into a rusty half-smile as she nodded her approval and quietly clapped for the twins.

Everyone was totally impressed with both of them.

"Dude, that was amazing!" Beast Boy cried, gaping at them in awe. "You're better than my favorite band!"

"Making those items was a very good idea," Cyborg chuckled proudly. "Boo-yah."

"I have to be dreaming," Patrokalos happily choked, turning off the mind headphones and allowing himself to sink into his chair with a deliriously pleasant grin. "Either I'm asleep right now, or I've died and gone to heaven. This just can't be real!"

"You're alive, and this is reality," Raven deadpanned, fighting back a reluctant smirk. "Don't warp it."

"Sorry," the blonde boy peeped, shyly averting his eyes.

"No worries," Robin sighed, patting their shoulders with a small smirk. "Welcome to the team. Officially."

That was that: the twins were officially ready for combat.


	7. Chapter 6: Slade

**Chapter Six: Slade**

The next afternoon was rainy, and the Tower was beyond quiet: Beast Boy and Cyborg were in the changeling's room playing video games, Raven was meditating on the roof, Starfire and Robin were shut in their respective rooms, and Persephone was taking a nap in her brother's bedroom since she'd fallen asleep while listening to the music that had been floating out of his mind through his new tools. She was currently lying on his feathered blanket with her skinny limbs sprawled out, snoring softly; her twin was sitting on the dusty loveseat by the bedroom window and doodling her adorable pose in a sketchbook.

However, both blondes jumped in alarm when a deafening alarm went off and red lights began flashing in the bedroom.

"Wha's going on?!" Percy groggily squeaked, blinking her sleepiness away when her brother leapt up and glanced around. "Are we under attack or something?!"

"I don't know! Let's go find one of the others and ask!" Patrokalos calmly reasoned, hastily putting his sketchbook away and clasping his sister's hand. However, when the two of them ran out into the hallway, they crashed into Cyborg and hurt themselves on his metallic armor. "Ow! Sorry about that!"

"Our fault," Percy whined, rubbing her aching nose. "Anyway, what's going on?!"

"That alarm goes off whenever the police department reports supernatural trouble that the cops can't handle," the bionic boy explained, glancing at the two blondes with a small smirk. "Believe it or not, we only handle the cases that normal officers can't take on: we can't apprehend a regular criminal if it's certain that he or she is a normal human being. If we did all the work, there would be no need for police officers... but that alarm signals when a supernatural crime is taking place."

"R-really?!" Patty whispered, eyes wide in awe. "Wow! I was wondering about that for a while now... when Percy and I were living in the slums, we always heard people complaining since the Titans never did anything about the drug lords or gangsters that were always parading around and robbing everyone!"

"No time for talk," Cyborg chuckled, gripping them under the arms and charging for the communications room. When he finally entered the room and set the twins down, all three of them found Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Robin already standing in front of the enormous computer. The team leader was currently clacking away with furrowed brows, looking highly puzzled by whatever he was looking at. "Yo, Rob, what's the situation?"

"I don't exactly know," Robin replied slowly, sounding as puzzled as he looked. "Something's not right... there's no Intel on whatever the problem is, only the location."

"The last time this happened, it didn't turn out well," Raven rasped, staring at the screen from the shadows within her hood. "It would be smarter to be suspicious."

Robin's communicator beeped as he straightened back up, and the Titans fell silent: they all watched as their leader pulled it out and checked the call for help. Robin's eyes widened, then narrowed into slits behind his mask: when he snapped it shut, he uttered one word that had an incredible effect on all of the Titans present.

"Slade," Robin hissed, face contorting into a snarl of rage.

Percy and Patty both went bone white and their fingers tightened on each other as their siblings' faces flashed behind their eyes.

The man who had murdered Artemis, Archimedes, and Saelind was, in fact, the Titans' worst enemy.

The twins had been told about how Robin went psycho whenever it came to finding a new clue about the maniac's location. Both blondes began wondering how the day would turn out as Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy—as a falcon—flew above the R-Cycle and the T-Car; they leapt from place to place using their abilities since they weren't exactly able to fly yet. Soon, the Titans came to the courtyard where Starfire and Beast Boy had first fought Thunder and Lightning. Everything was silent and the domino-like slabs of granite had been fixed since their last visit, as was the large granite ball at the end of the yard.

"Are you sure he was here?" Raven asked, slowly pulling down her hood and stoically looking around. "Nothing looks out of place..."

"Yes, he was definitely here," Robin stated calmly, furrowing his brows in suspicion. "In fact, I'm almost posit—OOF!"

Percy and Patty jumped with identical yelps of alarm when the titan leader was unexpectedly sent flying into a nearby wall.

"Robin!" Starfire cried, soaring over to him and helping him up as the other Titans glanced around nervously. "What manner of unseen creature is lurking here?!"

"What the hell?" Cyborg muttered, finally turning on the radar in his mechanical eye; however, he gasped at what he saw. "No way... yo, this is insane!"

"What is it?!" Beast Boy squawked, looking around with spooked green eyes. "Is it some sort of ectoplasm monster from beyond the grave?!"

"No, it's Slade's bots! Slade's minions are everywhere! There are thousands of them, man!" the bionic boy shouted, firing his sonic cannon dead ahead at something they couldn't see. Several blasts of fire exploded out of thin air, proving to the other Titans that he was right. "They have some kind of cloaking devices on them!"

"How can we fight something we can't see?!" Beast Boy shouted, voice taking on a trace of hysteria. "I can't smell it if its not really alive!"

"We find a way to see it," Robin snarled, whipping out his staff and racing forward. By some stroke of luck he managed to hit one; it fell to the ground, visible. All of the Titans were attacked at that moment: those who could fly did so, doing what they could to help. They looked rather strange, attacking thin air while being batted around by an invisible force: honestly, Cyborg was the only one doing any real damage, so Robin ripped a kind of metal wristband off a minion he'd downed.

"This is the cloaking device!" he barked, tossing it to Cyborg. "Find a way to shut it down!"

"Raven, this thing can't be broken from the outside," the robotic boy bellowed, throwing the cloaking device at the empath and resuming his blasts when she caught it using her powers. "Give it to the Harmony Twins! That thing can be shorted out by a powerful blast of electricity, so tell them to use their lightning on it!"

"Patty and Percy, heads up!" Raven shouted at the twins, throwing the wristband. "If you use your electric powers on that thing, we'll beat these idiots!"

"How powerful of a blast lightning are we talking, here?" Persephone called in alarm, expression becoming a little worried; her brother had already propelled himself into the air and caught it. Both twins looked at the wristband after he landed before zapping it experimentally; when there was no change in the invisibility, however, both of them furrowed their brows and clasped hands with serious eyes. "HEY! I suggest you all take cover or get out of the general vicinity!"

Once the Titans looked up and saw the serious looks in their glowing yellow eyes, they all took the given advice and ducked out of the way.

The twins then propelled themselves into the air and soared up to the granite sphere, landing clumsily on top of it before crawling to their feet with each other's help: neither of them would have much energy after doing this, but if it would help their friends they were going to try. Percy and Patty's large blue eyes simultaneously began to glow with a neon yellow light, and their blonde hair lifted towards the sky as crackling energy lanced down their arms. The very air around them seemed to sizzle loudly as they summoned their godly powers and unleashed a massive wave of electrical energy.

Almost immediately, the air around the twins imploded with a clap of thunder and lightning roared to life with a flash of blinding light.

Wristbands exploded all over the place, causing the robots began to appear—flickering into the visible spectrum as the twins' mentally generated electricity coursed through their mechanical bodies. Percy and Patty both went limp not even a second afterwards; their large eyes stopped glowing and they inexpertly toppled off the top of the sphere without a sound, making the eyes of every Titan widen. Starfire abruptly swooped up from underneath and caught the blondes in her arms, flying back up to the sphere and setting them down on it with a worried look on her face.

"Percy! Patty!" she shouted, speaking over the sound of the ensuing battle. "Friends, are you okay?"

"Yeah, but that took up a little more energy than we were expecting," Persephone replied with a shaky grin, mirroring her brother's weak nod. Starfire smiled in relief, but Percy's big blue eyes flicked past the redhead's face before flaring neon yellow once again. Before the alien could react, the angel sent a wave of deadly wind ripping right past Starfire's face—so close to her skin that she felt the gale-force gust brushing against her cheek. The redhead shrieked as a robot was sliced into a million pieces right behind her back, falling to the ground in metallic chunks and disintegrating into miniscule metal particles.

"Thank you!" Starfire said, thoroughly shaken by the unexpected attack. "I did not see my assailant!"

"Friends aren't really friends if they won't protect the people they care about," Patrokalos asked simply, smiling a little before he and his sister slumped backwards; the exhaustion was already flooding through them. "Ugh... I can't even move anymore... Starfire, kick their butts good for us, please!"

Though it was a small deed—and it seemed rather insignificant—from that moment on, Starfire, Patty, and Percy became friends. After that battle, Persephone became the person that Starfire could really open up to, and she finally began sharing the thoughts that Robin wouldn't understand. Raven and Starfire became a little closer through Persephone as well, and the twins felt like they were really fitting in now that they had become friends with the redhead. The battle ended without incident, but Slade hadn't shown his face: Robin figured he had simply called them out as another attempt to test the twins' skills.

He was on edge after the odd little display.

However, he didn't show it: Slade obviously knew about the twins because of the way they'd first been found, which meant they were in danger—but he didn't tell them because he didn't want them to worry. Unfortunately, Robin began to spend prolonged periods of time in his room again; Starfire was stopping outside his door for brief moments again; silence was settling over the Tower again; and the only ones who didn't understand why this was happening were Percy and Patty.

In truth, they were absolutely terrified since Slade knew they were living with the Titans.

The day after the attack was fairly slow... everyone was once again doing their own thing, even Persephone.

Patrokalos, on the other hand, had realized they were out of tofu and had decided to go shopping.

He was currently at the supermarket, looking for the last of his supplies.

"Okay, I've got... ten kinds of spices, eggs, organic peanut butter, wheat bread, one box of Monkey Man cereal for Beast Boy, herbal tea for Raven, and several types of soy-based meat," Patrokalos murmured, going over his shopping list with a thin finger and stopping on the organic soymilk. "All right, I guess that simply leaves both kinds of milk... but where did that lady say they were shelved again? Ugh, shopping is definitely not my thing... maybe I should have asked Percy to come with me."

The blonde boy instantly sighed, frowning in puzzlement as he looked around the crowded supermarket.

It was extremely busy considering it was a Saturday morning, but the fact that several girls were looking at his uniform made him feel uneasy. He tried to ignore the interested and amazed stares some of the customers were giving him, but it was still unnerving since the Titan Emblem was clearly visible on his chest: several people had already noticed this fact, and they had also seen the Titan communicator strapped onto his belt, so it was causing them to become interested about who he was. Patrokalos sighed and turned around, heading towards the milk isle before the girls around him could walk over and try to start up a conversation.

Unfortunately, he bumped into a girl going in the opposite direction when he turned around the corner and lost his balance.

"Ah!" Patty yelped, eyes going wide in dismay when the person he'd bumped into also fell over. "I'm so sorry! It was an accident, honest! Here, let me help you!"

However, when the person he'd knocked over rubbed her aching chest and looked up at him, Patrokalos blinked in surprise.

The girl sitting in front of him had extremely long black hair that had framed her cheeks in a flowing manner, and her large eyes were an entrancing shade of hazel that seemed to slowly shift from green to brown under the fluorescent lights. Her skin was lightly tanned and flawless, and her gently curling hair hung down over her shoulders in a set of casual braids. The girl blinked back at him, looking just as surprised as he did once she took in his odd clothing and striking features.

After a moment, she dusted her faded blue-jeans off and started picking up the groceries that had fallen out of her basket.

"I'm really sorry," Patty awkwardly mumbled, face turning red with mortification; he instantly started helping her grab what she'd dropped, hastily putting each item in her basket with shaking muscles. He felt socially awkward around other people, so it wasn't all that uncommon for him to get flustered and act like more of a klutz than usual when he made mistakes like this. After a moment, the girl looked at him with furrowed brows and made a few odd gestures with her fingers.

When he stared at her with a blank expression, her eyes turned uncomfortable and she sighed.

"I'm deaf," the girl explained, tapping her ears with furrowed brows. "Do you understand ASL?"

"A... ASL?" Patrokalos asked, blinking in total confusion before he shook his head in dismay. "I... I'm sorry, but I don't even know what that is..."

"Sign language," the girl curtly retorted, never taking her eyes off his lips when he spoke. "I apologize for bumping into you."

"Um... no problem," Patrokalos mumbled awkwardly, slowly climbing to his feet and helping her up; the boy was startled when he realized she was quite a bit taller than him, and he instantly huddled down with a wide-eyed expression. The raven-haired girl instantly straightened her soft white blouse and dusted her pants off before she glanced at something on the ground. She blinked a few times before bending over and grabbing Patty's Titan communicator: he instantly gasped and patted his belt, face turning pale when he realized it had fallen off its attachment. "Eh?! How the heck did it fall off?"

"You're one of the Titans?" the dark-haired girl asked, speaking slowly and carefully before furrowing her brows. "I heard there was only five..."

"It's a long story," Patrokalos stammered, waving his arms and shakily grabbing his things; he blinked when the girl knelt down and helped him. "Thank you..."

"Be careful," the girl stated calmly, giving him a somewhat kinder expression. "I have to finish shopping now... I have people waiting for me at home."

And with that, she hefted her grocery basket and walked off.

Patrokalos felt his ears burning when he grabbed two cartons of soy milk, but the entire time he was getting the food checked out at the front counter, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd forgotten something. He was halfway back to Titan's Tower when he realized that the girl had never given back his communicator. The blonde boy's eyes went wide and he froze, nearly dropping the groceries: then, flailing his arms, he whirled around and used his powers to propel himself back towards the supermarket. He was hoping that the girl would still be there, but after searching through the isles he realized that she probably would have left.

"I'm gonna be in sooo much trouble," Patty whined, walking into the parking lot and sinking down to the ground. "Today isn't my day at all..."

However, the boy blinked when he saw a dark shape moving into an alley not too far down the road: for a moment, he thought he saw black hair fading into the shadows and stood up with a hopeful gasp. After remembering the mystery girl's words about being deaf, however, the blonde boy hastily hefted his groceries and charged towards the alley. He saw the shape move down another corner just as he looked down it: he furrowed his brows and chased the shadow down, but after a while he lost sight of the person he was following. After winding down several darkening roads, he spotted the figure heading into an old warehouse.

Patrokalos was instantly confused and he stopped dead in the middle of the alleys. Blinking twice and rapidly rubbing his eyes, he glanced at the buildings around him before looking at the warehouse; feeling puzzled, he tried to turn around and walk in the other direction since he doubted the dark-haired girl would have gone into such a rundown building, but his insides went cold when he realized that he no longer knew where he was. The blonde boy immediately began to look around like a rational person, trying to figure out how to get out of the dark side streets so he could head back to the tower.

Maybe if he told Robin right away, they could do something to find out where his communicator had gone.

However, before he could start walking, a high-pitched scream came from inside the warehouse and made his blood run cold. Not even thinking twice, Patty whirled back around and charged for the doors, eyes large. Once he was inside... everything went dark: somehow, the air was literally ringing with a sinister presence, and the fact that he could feel the evil in the air put him on edge. This wasn't just a warehouse... somehow, he instinctively knew that something evil was lurking inside.

"Good evening, Patrokalos," a voice suddenly purred. "I'm glad you took the bait."

"AHH!" Patty yelped, whirling around with a terrified expression. "W-w-who's there?!"

"You already know who's here," the shadowed figure chuckled lowly; the boy all but squeaked when his powers erupted as a result of his fear. Without warning, the wall next to the man's head blew up by accident; the masked figure didn't so much as blink upon witnessing the display of uncontrollable power. "My, my..."

"No..." Patty whimpered, eyes going impossibly wide. "No… there's no way… you aren't real!"

"Oh, I'm very real, Patrokalos D'Andesyrius," the masked man replied, casually looking at his glove. "I purposely made sure you'd never forget me after your... training."

Patrokalos immediately went dead-white and stumbled backwards into the wall, shaking all over.

"Get away from me," the blonde boy whispered, blue eyes glowing brilliant yellow. "Get away! Stay away and leave me and Percy alone! You don't own us!"

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid I can't leave you alone at this point," Slade casually replied, looking up with a hard flick of his eye. "In truth, I'm here to talk negotiations with you since you've escaped my control: I have no intentions of taking you and your sister back to the facility. What I now require is your assistance in killing someone."

"K-k-kill?! E-excuse me?" Patrokalos squealed, pale face becoming bone white with total horror and outrage. "I've never met anybody as stupid and crazy as you! Do you honestly think I'd help the monster who murdered every person we ever loved?! Do you really believe I'd willingly listen to the man who locked me and Percy up with humans who tortured us to the point of insanity? I'm not a killer, Slade, and I never will be—so... so... just go away and leave me alone! GO AWAY!"

"Perhaps I should clarify my statement," Slade stated, steely gray eye narrowing to a mere slit. "I have your new location pinpointed on a radar at my headquarters: your every movement is being tracked thanks to my technology. I've had you in my grasp from the moment you escaped it, Patrokalos… but I don't care about that any longer. Now I have a better solution, so I am instructing you to get close to my current targets, the Teen Titans, and destroy them… then you will bring your twin sister to me. If you do not, I will drag you and your twin back to my headquarters by force, be it alive or as carcasses. It makes no difference whatsoever if you're dead."

"I'm not going to kill anyone, and I sure as hell won't be leading my sister to you!" Patrokalos roared, bristling with rage. "Actually, Slade, I have a better idea: how about you just shut the hell up and leave before I get angry?! I'll never give my friends up to anyone for any reason, even if I have to sacrifice myself!"

Thus, after flicking his new headset on, the blonde boy sang a rapid melody full of high and sharp notes, using his musical power to control the world around him: several shards of ice instantly exploded out of the air and hurtled toward the villain, but the frozen daggers shattered against the wall as Slade moved his head to the side, easily avoiding the attack. Patrokalos, needless to say, was absolutely horrified since the villain had dodged his powers without even looking remotely afraid.

"You are obnoxiously loud, dear Patrokalos," Slade taunted, leering at the stricken blonde boy. "Care to keep throwing your little tantrum?"

"Stupid jerk! Just go away and leave me alone!" Patty angrily cried, clenching his fists as his eyes began to glow with a blinding yellow light; ducking as the wall above his head abruptly exploded, Slade nimbly avoided the blonde boy's attack. When that didn't work, the blonde whirled around and bolted out of the factory with a terrified sob, practically hyperventilating since he had no way to call for help: he'd lost his communicator, after all, so he was literally in serious trouble.

He heard Slade laughing behind him, which made his fear spike and caused him to panic: heart thudding madly, the blonde sang several musical notes and propelled himself high into the air using a burst of compressed wind. He bounced from building to building, panting heavily and fighting not to cry, because he could hear Slade's laughter echoing not too far behind him. After a few minutes of fleeing across Jump City's rooftops, the boy whirled around in the air and started throwing fireballs and ice shards in the direction of the laughter. Nothing was there after the smoke cleared, and for several moments the laughter fell silent.

Patrokalos landed on the edge of the building and panted weakly, heart thudding madly as his eyes flicked around for the madman.

"Thank god," the angel whimpered, letting out a sigh of relief. "I lost him..."

His words were spoken too soon: the moment he relaxed, Slade came sailing over the top of the building and smashed into his waist. Patty screamed only a split second before he and the villain crashed through a set of business offices, startling several workers in the process; then they went through another wall and his back was smashed into the middle of the street. Cars came screeching to a halt when the two of them rolled, honking like crazy; the pedestrians instantly bolted.

"Very well, little boy," Slade said smoothly, rising to his feet and removing an object that suddenly extended into a staff of some sort. "If you want to have an audience witness this, so be it: I see that I'll have to make some sport of you in order to get my will through that thick skull of yours."

"Shut up!" Patrokalos roared, crawling to his knees and slamming his palms onto the ground; he instantly sang a few musical lyrics. "Earth, my brother, hear my plea: I ask you to bestow your gifts unto me! Lightning crackle and thunder roar: lend me the strength of the God of war!"

Almost immediately, the concrete around the blonde boy's body cracked open and several vines whipped out of it: charged with electricity, the shocking plants went flying towards the masked man with a mind of their own; Slade dodged every single one of the violent plants and merely laughed at him. Infuriated that he couldn't hit the villain, Patty shouted in anger and sent several fireballs flying at him. Closing his eyes, Slade took a single deep breath and moved to the side, avoiding the boy's deadly powers while nimbly dodging the vines that continuously smashed into the ground. People instantly climbed out of their cars and ran in the opposite direction.

Standing frozen on a nearby corner was a girl with long black hair, arms full of paper shopping bags.

Slade ducked and landed on his knees as two more thick vines crisscrossed above his head and moved to the side—feeling the rush of inhuman energy as he avoided getting his head caught in a thorny vice; the blonde boy was sent sprawling on the floor by a kick soon after.

"Ow! Go away!" Patrokalos squeaked in fright, unable to believe that the man could have avoided his swift attacks. "Stop it! Just go away and leave me alone!"

When the boy crawled backwards and tried to get to his feet, Slade lunged at him with a deadly intent in his eye; before Patrokalos could register what was even happening to him, the man's gloved fist slammed into his nose—sending blood flying into the air. Abruptly falling backward from the momentum of the hit, Patty clamped his small hands over his nose with a howl of pain, eyes large with tears and fright since blood was soon streaming through his pale fingers.

Slade grasped the front of the boy's shirt and pulled him forward—avoiding yet another strike from the killer vines.

When the boy tried to kick him, he let go and swept his legs out from under his body; Patrokalos hit the ground on his back, and Slade bashed the staff against his stomach. Patty, however, slowly crawled back to his feet, eyes glowing yellow as he attacked with blind fury. The villain sidestepped his angry tackle, swerved around the next three slices from his frozen swords, and bashed the blonde in the back of neck with the staff—sending him rolling across the ground.

The amount of rage and pain that Patrokalos was feeling was indescribable, but by the time he raised his head, the villain's bloody hand was smashing into his cheek again. Patty gasped and choked when he found himself single-handedly slammed against an apartment wall by Slade: the man's fist was tightening on his slender throat, causing the boy's glowing yellow eyes to go out and flicker back to their former electric blue.

They were shining with terrified tears, for memories of other people strangling him were now resurfacing.

"Do you understand now, little boy?" Slade purred deliciously, throwing the blonde to the ground after he had given up writhing and squirming under his grasp. "I am more than capable of handling you on my own. Energy, no matter what kind or how powerful it is, always suffers from the effect of being too loud. I have trained my ears to the utmost perfection and will hear nothing but a loud rush when you use it, making it easy to avoid your strikes. Now, are you going to continue this useless fight or kill the Titans for me? If you be a good boy, I might consider keeping you as a pet instead of torturing you to death."

"T-those were lucky shots!" Patty snapped weakly, wiping his nose clean and getting up again; a fierce wind was kicking around the blonde boy's frame, filling the streets with the overpowering feeling of his energy, which was much stronger than the average Angel: there was, after all, a reason that he and his sister were called the only two of their kind. He shakily wiped the blood off his lips before folding his lanky arms, but he couldn't hide the violent shivers when Slade cracked his knuckles.

"Perhaps after this you will understand your place," he chuckled, then darted forward like a snake. "Now learn it!"

Only two minutes later, Patrokalos was struggling to get up from the ground but failing miserably: his face was a bloody mess, both of his eyes were blackened, three fingers on his left hand were broken, he had several broken ribs, and his sense of purpose had been crushed.

"Stop… it," the blonde whispered, hardly able to move his head enough to look up. "Get away from me..."

"You have the tenacity befitting a true soldier, but you have the skills and prowess of an amateur," Slade chuckled nastily, planting his boot on the back of the boy's head for a moment. "You keep attacking me with your powers: after the beatings, someone smarter would realize that if it didn't work the first two times, a third plan should be made. The moment your energy didn't work on me, you should've made a secondary plan, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. You rely too heavily on those freakish powers of yours, and the moment they don't work the way you want, you lose all your focus and attack irrationally."

"Go screw yourself," Patty growled, but with a sudden stomp the man slammed his foot against his head. "OW!"

"I could crush your skull, Patrokalos D'Andesyrius," Slade pointed out. "you know that well enough right now!"

"Then crush it! I won't do this!" the blonde boy wailed. "I won't hurt anyone! Not my new family! Not my sister! I won't hurt them!"

"That's a real shame," Slade sighed, pulling a small ray blaster from his belt and aiming directly at his head. "I'd hoped to get a more enticing reaction out of you."

Nearby, the brick wall was watching the scene with enormous hazel eyes: it blinked several times in alarm before the irises flicked to the side.

With a startled expression, the eyes vanished and the wall returned to normal.

"Wait just a moment," a cold voice stated. "I believe that I should interfere just this once... I think he is old enough."

The masked man raised the gun and glanced over his shoulder.

"Oh?" Slade inquired, looking noticeably surprised. "It's not like you to have mercy on a test subject."

"I would be more than glad to watch you kill him, but I have a better way of getting the boy's cooperation," the arrival stated wickedly, chucking something into the wall right above Patty's head; his garish yellow eyes emerald green hair made him seem extremely sinister, especially since his smile was that of a maniac. "If he doesn't comply with us, I can kill many birds with one stone... because, you see, simply killing this little angel outright would pale in comparison with destroying him."

When Patrokalos heard the man laugh, he paled to the point of translucency and his breath hitched high like a girl's: he instantly began to hyperventilate, since he would never be able to forget the voice of the man who had tortured him and his twin sister during the years of never-ending darkness. It was none other than the head of the Facility, Dr. Oliver Vladmir: he was the most vicious and sadistic human the twins had ever come across in their life. When he managed to glance up, Patty saw a long pole sticking out of the wall next to his head: it had been sharpened to a deadly point, but it held something that had been impaled upon it. The boy couldn't suppress the earsplitting scream that instantly ripped out of his chest; he abruptly turned away, skin turning a sickening bone-white.

The odd eyes that had somehow appeared on the brick wall across the street were so large that they resembled enormous marbles.

"Well, it seems as though you already have destroyed him," Slade casually noted, cocking his head to the side when he noticed the blonde boy's shaken reaction to his voice and what was on the pole. "I find your tastes in human corpses to be disturbing: even I'm not as evil as that, which is something I thought I would never say."

"No…" the blonde whispered, clutching his head with broken hands. "No, no, no… I don't wanna go back in the dark!"

On the pole was a little girl's head: Saelind.

"I bet this little gift is bringing back some happy memories," the doctor whispered into his ear, shocking Patty senseless by appearing out of nowhere and sitting on his back. "If you don't help us, I'll take control of your mind and force you to, just like before. Then I'll rape that beautiful sister of yours and put her head on this stick once I'm finished having fun. I'll make sure you watch as I decapitate her, bleeding from the mouth and screaming… and all the while, you'll be under my control."

"No," Patrokalos whined, trembling violently as his electric blue eyes dilated with fright. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Oh, yes," the man purred deliciously, watching in triumph as the blonde's pupils dilated and he began trembling violently against his will. "Oh, yes, little boy, I'll drain her blood into a cup and swallow it before I run this spike through her skull, and then I'll use my powers to make you lick it clean. I'll keep her head as a souvenir and make you look at it until you die alone."

There was no possible way he could have seen what he had seen… but there it was: the man had come to take him back into the darkness.

"So, what will it be Patrokalos?" Slade inquired in that sickening voice of his. "The betrayal of your twin sister, or being controlled against your will and murdering her while being completely aware of it? I know you'll choose wisely, dear boy."

"STOP IT!" Patty screeched, shaking his head violently. "Stop it, stop it, stop it! Just go away! Please, no more!"

"I guess that settles your decision," Vladmir stated slyly, and he immediately took over Patty's mind; the boy's blue eyes abruptly turned red and he let out a horrified scream as his waking world went dark… and then slowly resurfaced into living hell. When he stood up, the eyes on the wall became even larger and disappeared into an alley with a flash. Two glossy black braids instantly vanished into the shadows as the deaf girl's body reappeared.

Nothing was left behind aside from two bags full of groceries.


	8. Chapter 7: Sundered Soul

**Chapter Seven: Sundered Soul**

"Today is a good day," Persephone mewled contentedly, rolling over onto her back and staring at her new bedroom ceiling. "A very good day indeed..."

The blonde girl lazily hummed the tune that had been wanting to come out all afternoon as she picked up her brother's sketchpad and started drawing on a blank page near the back of it. She was currently wearing an off-the-shoulder sweater that effectively left her shoulders bare and kept her arms covered: the black straps from the tank top she was wearing beneath it provided a sense of self-conscious comfort, though, and her ruffled black skirt was by no means too short. She had been rather surprised when Cyborg had given her and Patty some casual clothes the previous evening, but the gesture of kindness had definitely been worth it.

After all, she wasn't the kind of girl who could wear her Titan uniform all the time: she was very dissimilar from her brother in that regard.

She preferred real clothes.

Persephone was just about to put Patty's sketchpad down and go find something to snack on from the kitchen when a flash of something hot abruptly seared behind her large blue eyes: the girl's hands flew to her nose as an incredible pain ripped through it. Electric blue eyes immediately becoming huge, the fragile blonde let out a shriek and bolted upright in alarm as blood spurted out of her nose, trembling violently as it began dripping through her pale fingers like a crimson waterfall.

The pain in her head was incredible... and she felt as though her entire body were being bruised.

"What the hell is happening?!" Persephone managed to choke out; another searing pain instantly wracked through her back, then through her left side, and finally her head with crushing force. The girl collapsed backwards on the bed, eyes bugging out and mouth open when the breath was unexpectedly knocked out of her: Percy instantly tried to scream, only to find that her throat had locked up: the girl curled into a quivering ball as more pain wracked her nerves.

It was only then that she realized what was occurring; her brother was being hurt, and she was helpless to find him in this condition.

Patty… her Patty was being hurt!

However... soon, she was in too much pain to think about what was really happening to him. When the pain lessened and abruptly faded into nothing, Persephone blinked in confusion and slowly sat up, pulling her hands away from her face as the bleeding in her nose came to an unnatural halt. She was disturbed by what had happened to her... but she was so shaken that she doubted she'd be able to move without her arms or legs buckling.

After taking a moment to rest, a heavy feeling filled the air and she impulsively glanced up at the rainy windows.

A ripping feeling of horror instantly shredded her chest apart and she choked on her like a madwoman, Persephone fell off of the bed like a klutz and began scrabbling away from the window, scooting towards the walls like a blonde from a horror flick. With good reason, too: there was someone hovering in front of her window and staring down at her with crimson eyes. That was all she could make out before he shattered the window.

"Get away from me!" Percy shrieked, eyes flashing with terror as the silhouette began moving toward her. Letting out another hysterical scream, the small girl threw several objects at the intruder, but the projectiles were merely deflected by an unseen force. Percy suddenly heard Starfire screaming her name and pounding on the metal door of her bedroom, but there was nothing she could do. The blonde was terrified, and the Dark Angel inside her was slowly gaining power over her mind: she was starting to lose control of herself, which wasn't a good thing at all. Persephone tried desperately to quench her dark side, but she wasn't strong enough.

As the boy took a step toward her, her rage dominated and Percy lost control of herself.

"I told you to get away!" the blonde girl shrieked, thrusting her hands out as the air around her imploded; white flames blazed in the path of her hand, but the intruder kept coming. A cyclone of wind exploded around her body and expanded to the far reaches of the room before coming to an abrupt stop. She was breathing raggedly, but the boy hadn't even her energy was fading; the intruder was draining her power and making her weak.

"STOP!" she wailed, clutching her head; the intruder halted momentarily, but only because he realized that Percy hadn't been yelling for him to stop. Percy held her face in her hands, tears running down her cheeks, but before her mind could return to normal she was struck by a gust of wind that sent her flying into the wall. Persephone choked on the blood that began streaming down her throat when the wind was knocked out of her before she managed to fall out of the dent in the metal and crawl jerkily towards the door. She was frantic to get away from her attacker, frantic to escape from his unholy wrath.

"Percy," the intruder hissed, closing his red eyes as several vines whipped toward her through the air, "run away…"

Around that very moment, Raven's eyes snapped open on the rooftop: she could sense that something was wrong, but she was unsure of what it was. She slowly stood up and closed her eyes, trying to figure the source of the disturbance, but then a bloodcurdling scream split the air: she recognized that high-pitched soprano almost instantly... it belonged to Persephone. Violet eyes snapping open wide, Raven whirled around and bolted to for the stairs.

When the Empath reached Persephone 's room, she found that the other Titans were already there and struggling to get inside: the door had apparently locked on itself. Starfire was pounding on it and Cyborg was trying to reset the access code, but the pad merely shorted out. The Tamaranian Princess slammed her fists against the door over and over again, but when she heard a window shattering she stopped pounding to listen: the Titans heard Percy shrieking hysterically, but when Raven closed her eyes and tried to contact the blonde girl's mind, she understood immediately what was happening.

"Her second soul is struggling to take control!" the Empath shouted. "She can't hold out much longer!"

"Persephone, we are coming!" Starfire shrieked as she began to force the door open; however, a deafening crash sent all of them jerking back a few steps and they stared at the wall next to the door. It had a huge dent in it, as though something large had just smashed into the metal. Not even a second later, three chilling words froze the blood in everyone's veins.

"S-SOMEONE, HELP ME!" Persephone shrieked from inside the room, crying hysterically as more crashes thundered through the metal door; the alien girl jerked and she grit her teeth when she heard the blonde girl screaming again; then there was nothing but a sudden, chilling silence on the other side of the door. Starfire, feeling terrified by the unexpected absence of sound, blasted the metal doors apart with a star bolt.

However, when they all sprinted inside they saw that the room was empty: Persephone was gone.

"No way!" Beast Boy gasped; the entire bedroom was destroyed and the floor by the window was covered in glass. "Dude, did she do all of this?!"

The Titans stood transfixed in the doorway, but there was something on the floor where Persephone had been moments before. Robin walked over and slowly picked it up: it was a round gold disk bearing Slade's mark. The Boy Wonder walked over to the shattered window and stared at the rain-soaked city, whispering one word—the same word he had said so many times in his head, the word he'd hated since the first time he had ever heard the sound of it.

"Slade," Robin hissed, and the Titans stared at him in shock.

"No!" Starfire whispered in horror, instantly hurrying over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "We can't let him take her, Robin!"

"We won't let him take her away, I promise," Robin muttered, stroking her back comfortingly. "We'll figure something out!"

"But Robin, there is something you do not know," Starfire sobbed, covering her face. "Friend Patrokalos told me not to tell anyone, but I fear it is necessary..."

"What are you saying?" Raven demanded, clutching the girl's shoulders. "Do you know something we don't?"

"Slade wants to… end the lives of friends Percy and Patty," Starfire stammered, wiping her eyes and staring at them with fearful expressions. "Patrokalos did the begging most tearfully for me to protect his sister and not let Slade take her away, but it appears that I have broken my promise."

Cyborg abruptly bolted from the room, looking worried.

"Dude," Beast Boy whispered, looking a little sick. "I knew Slade was bad, but I didn't think he was capable of killing."

"He is," Robin stated in a low tone, looking a little sick. "Remember the three bodies we found in the canyon?"

Everyone fell silent and a chill swept through the room.

"Yo, Patty is missing, too!" Cyborg exclaimed, running back into the room. "He's gone! They're both gone!"

Without warning, however, Robin's communicator blinked and he flipped it open with furrowed brows.

However, he blinked and did a double take when he saw an unfamiliar girl with jet black hair staring at him with a similar startled expression.

"Who are you?" the titan leader demanded in a dangerous tone. "Why do you have one of our communicators?"

"Before you say anything else, I'd like to let you know that I can't hear a single thing you're saying," the girl stated slowly, enunciating each word with careful precision before glancing over her shoulder with nervous eyes. "I'm deaf. A friend of yours dropped this yellow computer thing in the supermarket, but he was attacked by a man wearing a black and orange mask and a man with bright green hair..."

"Where are you?" Robin demanded, furrowing his brows; the girl kept her hazel eyes focused on his lips. "What part of the city?"

"If you're asking where I am," the girl stated calmly, not even noticing when a shadow started approaching her from behind, "I'm near the—"

However, she never finished speaking.

Robin blinked in alarm when the girl let out a gasp: the communicator tumbled to the ground and revealed the concrete.

In the corner, he could just make out a body hitting the ground and a pair of black combat boots walking towards the screen before it went dark.

"What just happened?" Robin wondered, staring at the screen with blank eyes. "Did she... just get attacked?"

"Yo, the communicator's tracking device has been deactivated," Cyborg hissed, looking at his arm. "I can't get a signal from it!"

"Well, keep trying!" the Titan leader snapped, slamming his fist on the computer console. "We have to find them!"

Meanwhile, Persephone had finally managed to use what remained of her power to break free of her attacker's grasp and fell down to the ground. She landed hard on her side and splashed painfully into the mud, knocking the wind out of herself. When she finally sat up and looked around, she realized that she was lying in the middle of a crossroad. Persephone glanced at her attacker with terrified blue eyes when he landed in front of her. However, the girl's elfish ears drew back and she twitched in unholy shock; the boy was her brother, Patrokalos, and his face was totally expressionless as he wiped the blood off of it.

"You scared the hell out of me, Patty," Persephone instantly sighed, giving him a relieved smile; Patrokalos examined his twin with cold crimson eyes, looking over her frail physique with a twisted expression on his ashen face. "That was a really good prank."

"I'm not joking, Persephone," the blonde boy answered nonchalantly, folding his arms over his chest. "This is for real."

With that, his eyes flared bright red and plant life exploded out of the ground—crisscrossing around his body so violently that the ensuing gust kicked the rain out around his drenched form. Persephone immediately froze at the sight of his hostility and bent low on her knees in preparation for an attack: her brother was acting very strangely, and she couldn't sense his consciousness… which meant that someone was possibly controlling him.

She needed to be prepared, just in case this confrontation devolved into a deadly battle.

However, it was a battle that would be very, very bad for her to fight.

_If I hurt him, I'll get hurt just as much,_ Persephone thought, trying to figure out how to survive without killing her brother and herself by accident. _This is bad..._

The girl shrieked when her brother abruptly lunged forward, sending lightning bolts at her with a flash of light: the ice swords Percy and Patty created using the rain falling down on them flashed as they lashed out at each other in a maelstrom of attacks. Percy used several gusts of wind to slice her brother's vines into pieces. It quickly became apparent that Patrokalos was trying to kill her instead of maiming her, for he was striking would-be lethal blows at her head and heart. Those blows were only avoided thanks to the blonde girl's quick intuition; more vines and ice shards whipped toward her, but Percy continued to duck and repel the attacks with her wind and fire even though she continuously found herself on the defensive end.

Hardly a minute had passed before she was sweating.

Patty—while breathing heavily—was abnormally calm and doing much better than her as far as fatigue was concerned.

He had always been more durable than his sister, not to mention stronger.

Swerving to the side, Patrokalos lunged to the left and swung a vine behind Persephone's back, whipping it around before sending it flying straight at the back of her head: the blonde girl squeaked and defensively created a wall of compressed air in am attempt to repel the incoming attack.** I**t only half worked, however: Persephone managed to slow the attack, but couldn't stop it completely because air, even compressed, wasn't solid. The crack of her jaw resounded in the forest as the force of the blow spun her around in circles like a rag doll, and she vaguely wondered if her lower mouth was still connected to her face.

"OW!" she shrieked, tears stinging her eyes. "THAT _HUUURT!_"

She barely registered that Patty had leapt into the air, but when she did she instinctively covered her head with an ice shield on instinct. It was a wise decision, as the blow that struck her would've taken her head off; instead, the lethal attack merely slammed her face into the ground. Percy rolled to the side, letting out a high-pitched shriek as the muddy earth was slashed by a few deadly vines: she watched with huge eyes as one of Patty's vines tore a tree clean out of the ground.

"You know what, little girl?" Patrokalos sneered as a vein bulged in his forehead. "I tried to kill you quickly in order to keep your brother from suffering more than he already has, but you're being a real pain in the ass. Just die already, dammit!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Persephone squeaked, propelling herself into the air in order to keep the massive trunk from flattening her. "Stop it!"

As she was coming back down to the ground, she felt a massive vine slamming into her gut. With a quick flick of his wrist, the mindless angel slammed his twin sister into the muddy ground. Choking, coughing, and in most part cursing the person that recently she thought to be the greatest being in the world, Persephone struggled to stand up again as the metallic scent of her own blood began flowing from her body. She couldn't stand it: fighting her brother was making her sick to her stomach.

"Don't get up," Patrokalos sneered, watching as his sister fell back to her knees and clutched her left side; blood was beginning to stain her sweater. "Just lie down like a good girl and I will end your suffering. Lord knows you've had too much of it... now I can finally bring it to an end."

"You're not my brother!" Persephone shrieked, flicking her blonde hair out of her electric blue eyes. "Stay away from me!"

Her plea went utterly ignored and a wave of ice shards sliced through the air—aiming for her slender neck.

Percy instantly leapt back and once again collapsed to her knees, writhing around and arching her back as pain assaulted her battered body.

"Idiot," Patty growled, striking again and again and watching as his sister dodged, ducked, and avoided his strikes—but also knowing that the girl was growing more and more tired. It was only a matter of time before fatigue got to her and she wouldn't be able to avoid or block the next attack. Persephone struggled to get back on her feet and then landed painfully on her back, her arms, legs, and torso throbbing with fatigue. With a few casual steps, Patty stomped hard on his sister's small hands—pinning them down. Percy's watery blue eyes became huge when her brother glared at her. "Well, well, well… have you decided to submit to your end?"

She instantly wondered why his eyes had turned neon pink.

However, her terror spiked when she saw the deadly vines swerving around the blonde boy's body.

"No, I can't die like this," Percy whispered as time halted, shimmering golden energy reflecting through her eyes. "The real Patty needs me! Starfire and Raven need me! Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Robin all need me! And I need them, but they don't even know it yet! I have to win! I have to win so I can tell them that I need them!"

"What a shame," Patrokalos pouted in a sardonic baby voice. "Talking to yourself, even at the very end."

"No! Please! Stop!" Persephone whined, squeezing her eyes shut. "Someone, help me!"

"Farewell, little girl," Patrokalos sneered, and with those final words he struck out with his vines. Persephone's big blue eyes suddenly flew open and she let out a gasp as her heart skipped a sickening beat: without warning, her vision exploded into white and something primal awakened inside her soul. Vladmir jumped and stared incredulously through Patrokalos' eyes as the vines dissolved: seconds later, the blonde boy's arms were unexpectedly pinned to the ground by Persephone.

Her eyes had unexpectedly become blank and unresponsive to the world.

However, when they rippled like water and turned crimson, Vladmir's eyes widened.

Somehow, without warning, Percy had turned feral and summoned the Angel of Wrath, a feat that was impossible for a split-being to achieve alone.

She shouldn't have been able to do it without Patrokalos at her side.

"What's going on?!" Vladmir growled in shock through his host's, struggling to lift Patrokalos's hand and finding such a feat impossible. "This isn't possible at all! She was barely able to move a second ago, much less summon her full powers! Unless… unless she's close to her awakening…"

It had the ring of truth to it... and he felt his heart turning cold when her shoulder-length blonde hair billowed out around her bloodstained cheeks, because the glossy locks began turning silver from the roots down. Persephone's large pupils shrank to small red slits only a split second before the power assaulted him: a whirlwind of dirt and vegetated debris flew around her body like a hurricane as she slowly stood up, and Vladmir realized that she was on the verge of exploding with godly power.

Lifting her arms to the sky, the angel let out a shriek and caused lightning to fork down in every possible direction.

Without warning, Percy propelled herself into the air with a concussive thunderclap and launched herself at Patrokalos, snarling as an animalistic look of blind rage swept across her fragile face. One of the vines swerved and struck from above, but Persephone avoided it by twisting in the air like a ballet star—moving at amazing speeds as she flipped and spun. Vladmir was absolutely stunned by the way she had changed from being fearful to totally enraged.

"She's so fast!" the man cried, wondering why the girl had suddenly become like this—but really having no time to delve on the matter as a volley of lightning bolts lanced down like instantaneous missiles. Outnumbered and outsized when it came to the force of the energy, Vladmir finally found himself running around—ducking and dodging death at mere centimeters. He couldn't let the body he was in control of die or his consciousness would fade with it.

Percy lifted her arms as electricity crackled down her limbs; Vladmir's eyes widened and he shielded Patty's retinas when the blonde girl conjured a deafening wave of lightning and hurled it at him. The forest echoed with the sound of a thunderous explosion that shook the earth for miles, and a blast of light illuminated the entire west horizon. The battle had turned vicious in an instant: for the first time ever with an Angel, Vladmir found himself on the defensive end and was narrowly avoiding the deadly musical and elemental attacks that were being thrown at him: two lightning bolts cracked over Vladmir's head, a large frozen blade narrowly avoided slicing Patty's body in half, and when several wind-blades were hurled at him, Vladmir very, very narrowly avoided being sliced into a million pieces.

However, right after dodging that attack, he found just enough of an opening to bypass Persephone's defenses: drawing back Patrokalos's fist and summoning an elemental blast of electricity, Vladmir swung hard at the girl's face with a thunder-punch. Percy was bashed in the head and blown clean off her feet by the electrical blow, small body flying straight into a tree: she slid back down to the ground, leaving a red smear on the wood.

_Someone… help me… it hurts… _

The girl struck from behind with a barrage of wind-blades.

She wasn't taking the time to look behind her, simply attacking to push Patrokalos away in case he had come too close.

Unfortunately, even though the move was incredibly smart, it ultimately ended up being futile since her twin brother had already sprinted to the side and was striking another electrical blow against her diaphragm, knocking the air out of her body—as well as a good bit of blood. The girl's crazed red eyes were slowly beginning to fade back into their sparkling blue: when a vine snapped around her neck and lifted her into the air by her throat, they returned to normal only a split second before she was slammed headfirst into the ground. When she weakly tried to stand up, she was lifted high into the air once again and slammed down on her back.

If she hadn't felt her legs, the blonde girl would've thought she'd been paralyzed.

Then Patty was standing above her and stepping on her arms… leering at her.

_It hurts… make it stop… make it stop… make it stop! _

A loud snap suddenly filled the air and Persephone gasped, blue eyes rippling like water when she felt several bones in both of her arms give way from the force of her brother's weight. A single moment of calmness occurred before the burning pain seared from her arms and ripped up her spine, passing over her entire body in a wave of agony. Unable to take the surge of blinding pain, Percy let out a hysterical shriek before a foot was crushed against her neck, effectively cutting off the sound.

Patrokalos looked almost demonic standing above her now, especially with his lips curled into that sadistic sneer…

Wait… she knew that expression! She knew it like the back of her hand!

"Doctor Vladmir?!" she choked out, blue eyes flying open wide with sheer and utter terror. "No way! No, no, no!"

"Well, it seems that you haven't forgotten me…" Vladmir snickered, pressing harder on the girl's arms. "Good. So, tell me, little Persephone… does it hurt?"

Percy wanted to remain defiant, wanted to say no and glare up at the man controlling her twin brother with conviction in her tearful eyes, but there was no conviction left: her last bit of conviction had been used up during her moment of spontaneous anger, and now she was trapped in a world of agony—unable to move and blinded by the pain that was filling her entire body. Instead of glaring at the man controlling her brother, the girl burst into strangled tears.

"Oh, my god!" a female voice suddenly gasped; the villain instantly stumbled, then cursed himself for even daring to hesitate. After a moment, he glanced up to see a teenage girl dropping her schoolbag in shock and horror: the girl's shoulder-length auburn hair twisted in the stormy wind like molten copper as she stared at the scene in front of her. Her stunned indigo eyes were locked on the two blondes in front of her and her mouth was hanging open, but she covered her mouth with a horrified gasp the instant she saw the blonde girl's wounds. "What the heck is going on here?!"

"Do not interfere," Vladmir droned, keeping his expression blank. "Leave this place."

The teenager stepped back for a moment with an uneasy look on her face, but then she glanced at Persephone's bleeding body and grit her teeth.

With shaky movements, the girl grabbed her bag and ran over to her side.

Much to Vladmir's unpleasant surprise.

"I don't know what's going on here, but get off of her arms right now!" the redhead shrieked, looking at the broken body of the girl who was currently being pinned to the ground; Percy was crying so much that she didn't even notice. "What did you do to this poor girl?! I'm calling the police!"

"Excuse me?" Vladmir questioned, eyes darkening with hatred; when Percy saw her brother about to strike at the girl with a vine, her heart skipped a beat and she instinctively retaliated to save the life in front of her. The blow from her water whip hit her brother so hard across the face that it sent him flying into a tree. The girl had been looking down at Persephone with shock on her face—but the sound of Patrokalos yelping pain made her turn around; when she saw the blonde boy sliding down the bark of the tree in a painful-looking upside-down position, she did a double take and rubbed her eyes.

"What just happened to him?" the auburn-haired girl muttered, blinking a few times before she she looked at Percy. "Never mind, we have to get you to a hospital!"

"Go away!" Persephone whimpered, writhing and crying as the pain roared through her. "Go! Run! It's too dangerous for a human like you to be here!"

"Did you just say 'a human like me'?! Okay, we're calling you an ambulance and you're going right to the ER!" the redhead fretted, wringing her hands before digging around for her cell phone. "I think you're becoming delirious from the blood loss. God... I need to call Talia and let her know that I'm going to be late for her tutoring."

"Who... are you?" the blonde girl whimpered, closing her eyes.

"My name is Lexie," the girl explained, pulling her phone out. "Got it!"

However, a sudden thud filled the air and the redhead unexpectedly went limp before falling over on her side; Percy looked up just in time to see the toe of a heavy-looking combat boot sailing straight for her face before her own world exploded into stars and she blacked out.


	9. Chapter 8: Awakening

**Chapter Eight: Awakening**

When Persephone woke up, she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there.

The blonde girl shakily tried to sit up, but her limbs gave out on her and she weakly collapsed back down onto the concrete, clutching her aching head and whining in pain as the room spun violently. She was on the floor of a large, round room, and the only light inside it was coming from the glass windows that circled around the entire room from floor to ceiling. After taking a glance at them, she saw that it was still dark and raining outside: then she remembered the injuries she'd suffered.

Glancing down at herself, Percy wasn't exactly surprised to find that her body wasn't in a better state than before. Weakly forcing herself into action, the blonde girl slowly stood up before dizzily limping over to the windows. When she took a peek outside, however, she blanched and fell flat on her butt—trying her hardest not to vomit from the fit of extreme vertigo that swept through her stomach: the room she was trapped in was, in reality, very similar to the top of a space needle.

"I see you're enjoying the view," an all-too-calm voice said from behind her. "I figured you would. You always did seem to love the tests where we dropped you from incredible heights to see how durable your body really was. Such delicious screams... I can almost still hear them."

Persephone abruptly whipped around to see a masked man standing in the center of the room, clutching her flailing brother by the throat; Dr. Vladmir stood behind him with a gagged and bound girl with enormous hazel eyes and braided black hair. When the girl struggled against his hands, the man grinned psychotically; Patrokalos's eyes were no longer glowing red or pink... and now, he appeared to be absolutely terrified of the two men.

On the other hand, the black-haired girl was alarmingly calm despite her large eyes.

"Patrokalos!" Percy shrieked in alarm, then turned to Slade and roared, "Let the hostage go and release my brother, right now!"

The masked man's eye narrowed in amusement as he approached, dragging her twin along; Doctor Vladmir held back, keeping a firm grip on the dark-haired girl.

"I only wish to give you an offer, little one," Slade stated calmly, throwing the battered blonde boy on the ground in front of her feet. Percy instantly attempted to summon her powers, but she was still far too weak; really, after her brother's almost-killing, she should have felt lucky enough to even be thinking clearly. Too exhausted to move, the blonde boy did nothing but lie there and pant weakly. "It would be in your best offer to listen."

"What more do you want from us?" Persephone whispered, legs turning to rubber from the fright. "You already took away everything we've ever loved."

"I've learned a lot about you and your twin during the years we ran those tests," Slade said, still walking forward and kicking her injured brother aside; Patrokalos glared and frantically tried to clutch his leg when Percy backed up against the windows. "I know more about you than you know yourself: your powers are incredible, but you and your brother have extreme balance problems that I can help you with. I can teach you both about the balance you've been craving."

"Don't," Patty angrily choked out, struggling to twitch his hand in his sister's direction. "Don't listen to him! It's a lie! He's a liar, Percy!"

"Silence! Or your head will end up on the pole I made for your little friend," the man in the shadows sneered, waggling a condescending finger; the black-haired girl's eyes followed that finger with an expression of pure dislike. In all honesty, she looked like she wanted to take a bite out of it. Slade was barely a foot away from Persephone now, and Patrokalos tensed when he placed his gloved hand under her delicate chin and tilted her head up; her mouth trembled when he stared into her shimmering blue eyes. She glared back at him defiantly, but the man could tell she was absolutely terrified of him: her dilated pupils proved her fear.

"Work for me, and you will have everything you ever wanted," Slade purred seductively. "I can give back what I took from you."

"W-what?!" Persephone squeaked, fear burning away into rage when she realized what he was trying to do; the small girl managed to use her shoulder to shove him away from her, eyes filling with enraged tears. "No, you can't! You can't give us anything back! You'll never be able to return what you took away! Never! Never, ever! You killed our family, Slade! You let our friend die and stole five years of our lives in the name of science! Patty and I will never work for you! Never! You are the man who killed our siblings and tortured us in darkness! We don't need you or want you! We already have everything we've ever wanted!"

"Do you really believe the monster lying on the floor over there cares about you?" Slade asked, grey eye narrowing behind his mask; his fingers instantly tightened on her chin and he forcibly lifted her face to his own. "Perhaps you even believe that the Titans are your true friends? Or that they could ever love a nasty little monster like yourself? Because that's all you are, Persephone: a monster with a pretty face. Your powers are the proof of you being a monster... of being _inhuman."_

"Shut up, you psycho! We're not monsters! We're not! Why should anybody care if we're not human?!" Percy shrieked, clutching her head in both hands as her elfish ears pointed toward the floor in protest. "The Titans are our friends! They gave us a home and treated us like family! They'll come for us, I know it! They care!"

"Perfect," Slade hissed, and the room instantly lit up. "That's exactly what I was trying to make sure of."

Persephone's heart palpitated when she looked up and realized that she was utterly surrounded by Slade's robots.

When they flew in for the attack, she tried to fight them off—but her arms were broken, she was still bleeding profusely, and she had no energy to fight. The robots quickly closed in around her and cut off her maneuvers; before she could do anything, she was slammed against a tall metal panel in the back wall. Patrokalos and the dark-haired girl were both dragged over afterwards, and soon all three of them were tied to separate panels by broad black belts. One belt strapped itself across their shoulders, another across their wrists and waists, another across their knees, another over their ankles, and the final one secured their necks.

Patty went limp in defeat before he turned his head slightly and helplessly watched his sister struggle against the straps. The black-haired girl didn't move an inch, merely kept her eyes opened wide and examined everything with an expression of forced calm. She silently glanced around, shivering slightly despite the gag over her mouth. Percy, on the other hand, somehow found the energy to call out a few wind blades... but none of them did her any good since they were only partially formed.

Slade watched her struggle with amusement and chuckled when she glared.

"I think it's time we let your… friends know that you and your brother are now in very good hands," the man chuckled nastily, pressing a button on the remote that he held clasped at his side; a screen buzzed to life a few yards in front of the twins, and Slade shielded their bloodied forms from the screen with his own body as he gleefully waited for the Titans to answer his call. "I have a feeling that they'll want to know every detail, especially since a civilian has gotten involved."

The Titans had been trying to find where Slade had taken the twins when it happened: as it turned out, they didn't really need to find the maniac because he unexpectedly appeared on the big screen of his own accord. The second the transmission came on, however, the worried teenagers immediately gathered before it and glared at the man on the screen with angry expressions. Every single Titan looked extremely pissed off at the moment.

"Where have you taken them?!" Robin roared, startling everyone with the unusually venomous outburst. "If you've hurt them, Slade, I swear that I'll—"

"Patience Robin: your new friends are very safe," Slade interrupted, giving a nasty chuckle before stepping aside. "In fact, they're both right here with me, feeling happy as a couple of clams who just had the meat picked from their bones. Their friend also seems to think very highly of you, considering she tried to thwart me."

Starfire gaped at the sight of Persephone and Patrokalos tied to the wall... but then she nearly fainted for the first time in her life.

Patty, although he was still glaring, had several bleeding gashes in his skin and small splotches of blood had stained his new uniform. Percy, on the other hand, was more gravely than him by far: the struggling girl's arms were twisted at awkward angles and bent disturbingly in several places; blood had utterly soaked the baggy sweater she was wearing; her pale face was bruised and swollen, her lips were split, blood was trickling from her nose, her head was bleeding from a gash that had been opened in her temple, and her ankle was twisted to the side as a grotesque-looking bulge pressed against the skin.

After a moment, the raven-haired girl's hazel eyes widened and she let out a muffled shout that caught their attention.

The Titans watched in horror as Patty went limp and Percy struggled against her bonds with every ounce of power she had left.

"P-Percy?! Patty?!" Cyborg whispered hoarsely, human eye wide with shock. "What the hell happened to them?!"

"Dude..." Beast Boy whispered, looking thoroughly stunned.

"What did you do to them?!" Robin spluttered, face going white upon seeing their conditions. "And why did you kidnap a civilian?! That's low, Slade, even for you!"

"Oh, my… well, if you're so worried about their horrible conditions, come and get them," Slade suggested slyly. "I'm sure that they'd love to see you again."

Persephone's electric blue eyes widened on the screen and she instantly began thrashing around, screaming her head off.

"NOOOOO!" the blonde girl wailed, struggling as hard as she could. "No, no, no! Please, don't do it! Don't listen to him! Don't come here! It's a trap!"

Another strap unexpectedly secured itself over her mouth.

They could still hear her muffled shrieking, however, and they could definitely see that she was crying for them to stay away with huge, frantic blue eyes. Slade chuckled and pushed a button on his remote, narrowing his eye when the straps became live with electricity. Raven pressed a shaking hand to her mouth, watching with large violet eyes as Patty arched his back with strangled roar and Percy squeezed her eyes shut, a muffled shriek working its way past the leather strap. The black-haired girl's eyes bugged out of her head and she let out a muffled shriek before flinging her head back and forth.

The three of them were being shocked to the point of electrocution.

The straps around their necks tightened as the Titans watched, choking the crying blondes and the screaming hostage so much that asphyxiation was becoming a very big possibility. Beast Boy stiffened and a felt familiar fear surging into his chest when Percy's eyes suddenly rolled before she stiffened and went limp; it was the same type of fear he'd felt when he'd realized that the last time he would see Terra smile at him would be in the presence of an erupting volcano. He started shaking when Patrokalos collapsed with a strangled groan and stared straight into his eyes through the screen: those blue irises were burning with fierce desperation.

"Please…" Patty begged in a pleading whisper, pale blue eyes appearing fevered and frantic. "If you really care about me and my sister… don't get hurt over us."

Then his head lolled forward and he fainted as well; only the black-haired girl remained lucid, and her eyes were shining with pain.

After a moment, Slade chuckled nastily and the screen went black.

Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all stared at the blank screen in horror, Starfire buried her face in Robin's cape, and the Boy Wonder—who felt utterly livid when he remembered how the twins' big blue eyes had sparkled after they'd been accepted as a part of their team—punched the computer panel angrily.

This time… this time Slade had taken it too far: they were going to get even for the sake of getting even.

"Did you trace the signal?" the boy snapped, glancing at Cyborg. "If you didn't, I don't know what I'll do to you… but it won't be nice."

"Yeah, I did," the black boy calmly replied. "He's at the Needle."

"Let's go, then!" Robin hissed, turning to look at his team with a fire rarely seen. "The Harmony Twins warned us that this was a trap, so we'll be ready for whatever he throws at us now. Titans, we're bringing our new friends home, safe and sound."

Persephone took deep, calming breaths and slowly opened her eyes as the electricity lashed against her body. Every inch of her skin seared with the agony of the first shock, and now the pain of her injuries had been tripled. Her powers were no longer of any use: her brother had attacked her against his will because of a madman's mind-control, the two of them were now being held prisoner, her friends were walking right into a horrifying trap, and all of it was happening because of her.

She had even gotten a hostage involved.

_Maybe they'd be better off if Slade just tortured me to death,_ she said silently, pointed ears drooping as more of the blood dripped onto her pale collarbone. Slade had disappeared, but his robots stood like statues all over the room, keeping the twins under their watchful mechanical eyes. Deciding not to go down without a fight, Percy tightened her muscles and struggled against her bindings again: the straps stretched slightly, but then they tightened even more and her strength failed her.

Finding no other solution, she closed her eyes and began to meditate on the problem.

However, the moment she entered a peaceful state of mind, her bindings tightened and all three of the captive teens were shocked again. Her brother hissed at the same time that the black-haired girl bit back a scream, but both blondes shut their eyes tightly until the pain ended. When Percy finally opened her eyes again, she found that her cheeks were wet with tears that she couldn't recall shedding: Slade was also standing directly in front of her.

His unexpected appearance nearly made the girl wet herself.

"Have you changed your mind about my offer?" he asked, cocking his head when he noticed how she twitched.

"Hell no! Let us go! Let us go right now!" she shrieked, then proceeded to call him several names that weren't suitable for children. She began struggling against the straps again—itching to pummel every inch of him into paste for hurting her new family and her brother. Soon she reverted to another language; he didn't understand exactly what she was saying, but he got the idea and laughed. Then he pressed the button again and shocked the twins into screaming with the remote in his hand.

"I take it that your words mean 'no,'" he snickered, cracking his knuckles as Persephone tried to breathe. "I can tell when you're mad, you know."

"Stop it already," Percy begged through gritted teeth, squeezing her eyes shut. "Don't hurt Patty and the other girl anymore! Make the pain stop!"

"Dear child," Slade stated calmly, narrowing his eye. "You ask such mercy for someone who tried to kill you only an hour ago?"

"Yes! It wasn't really Patty! My brother would never hurt me on his own, and you know it!" Percy wailed, convulsing slightly. "SO PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Slade sneered, but the rest of his sentence was cut off as a huge explosion echoed around the room and a hatch in the floor that led down to the stairs blasted open. When the smoke cleared away, Persephone saw that the Titans stood in the center of the room, each one looking murderous—but none so enraged as Raven, surprisingly enough. "Well, well, well... right on time."

_So much pain…_ Percy hazily thought to herself, eyes sliding shut from the exhaustion she was experiencing. _I wish it would all just go away..._

She hated herself for being weak, but she hated the fact that Slade had taken her so easily even more. He had gotten to her brother, her one weakness, and had used him as a shield. That fact alone made her feel sick: she had failed her only remaining family, her other half, and broken her promise to always be there for him.

Percy heard her friends shouting, igniting the faint hope that they cared.

"You will let them go!" Starfire shouted at the man, red hair billowing out like a cotton ball from the force of her anger. "Our friends are not yours to take!"

"What have you _done?!"_ Raven croaked, glowing white eyes widening after she stretched her awareness out and felt their prolonged agony for herself; when Percy started crying, her glowing white eyes slowly started turning red and she hissed like an animal. "I'm going to _destroy_ you for doing this to _my_ friends!"

_Did she just say that we're her friends?_ Patty weakly wondered, trying to figure out whether or not he'd heard correctly.

"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled, and the Titans began the fight as the robots sprang into action.

The team leader went straight for Slade.

Percy watched helplessly as her friends fought for them: the Titans were winning, but they were vastly outnumbered.

_Please don't let them get hurt because of us,_ Percy prayed, struggling to keep her eyes open.

_I can't let them down again,_ Robin thought to himself, fighting valiantly against Slade_; w_ith a powerful side swing of his Bo-staff, Robin managed to clip the madman's jaw and momentarily threw him off balance; during the distraction, the Titan Leader darted past and flipped toward the twins and the dark-haired girl. However, when Slade pulled out his remote and chuckled, Raven saw what the criminal was doing and went rigid with fright: she instantly let out a cry.

"Robin, stop!" the Empath shouted, but it was too late: the Titan leader was five feet away from Persephone and Patrokalos when Slade pressed the button, but this time he held it down and didn't let go. The shock emanating from the tables was so great that Robin was blasted backward and all of Slade's robots shorted out.

The restraining straps cut into the twins' bodies at the same moment they let go of the black-haired captive.

Patty and Percy let out hysterical screams and arched their backs in unholy pain; the twins screamed so loudly that it shattered the glass windows of the observatory and forced everyone to cover their ears. The pain was so intense for them that their bodies began to contort backwards, and their only comprehensive thoughts were centered around the pain coming to an end. The Titans stood frozen in horror as the two of them let out two more bloodcurdling screeches.

Then their crystal blue eyes simultaneously began to glow with a blinding light that shot out of their irises.

The tie holding Patrokalos's hair back snapped from the energy and the ribbon keeping Persephone's hair tied into a ponytail dissolved into nothing.

Their silken tresses flared out around their shoulders and rapidly began to grow in length as their bodies emitted a white aura; the straps over their mouths, necks, shoulders, knees, and ankles snapped as two circlets of golden fire exploded in front of their chests. A key made of flames soon pierced their bodies, and only a split second later, whips made of white light exploded out of the fiery holes and lit up the entire room with a thundering bang that echoed for miles around.

Thus, with the sound of that thunderclap fading into the distance, two sets of enormous feathered wings exploded out of their backs in a spray of lightning.

The remote in Slade's hand abruptly erupted into electrical ice shards and blew up as their combined energy spiked, and because of that, he fled the crime scene.

However, the pain stopped so suddenly that both twins passed out, powers dissipating in an instant: the blondes were now hanging limply by the straps they hadn't broken, wings slowly dissolving into bright blue sparkles that glittered with a mesmerizing twinkle. Beast Boy and Raven immediately charged over to where they were pinned, and with shaking fingers they hastily released their bonds. The changeling caught the blonde before she could fall to the floor, and Raven swept Patty's slender body into her arms. However, that's when Beast Boy saw something dark dripping from her fingers and froze.

She was bleeding, and she was bleeding a lot judging by how strong the metallic scent was.

Without warning, the bonds around black-haired girl's hands exploded in a spray of glittering lavender light: when the titans jumped and stared at her glowing hands, she twitched and seemed to melt into the floor. Literally. Then she scooted away from them, body matching everything around her..

"How are you doing that?!" Robin croaked, glancing at her with worried eyes. "Never mind... that's not important right now. Are you all right? You aren't hurt, are you?"

"I'm fine!" the deaf girl snapped, voice coming out somewhat congested. "Now, could someone please tell me what's going on?!"

"That's a long story... I'm sure you know where we live, so come to our place tomorrow and we'll figure things out," Robin stated calmly, helping her up and watching with uneasy eyes as she dusted herself off. "I'm going to guess that you're not an ordinary hostage, are you? What's your name?"

"My name is Talia O'Malley," the dark-haired girl explained, keeping her eyes trained on his lips; her normal bodily color soon returned. "I... I guess you could say I'm a sorceress of sorts. I can't come tomorrow, though... it's a Monday, and I have too many things to keep track of."

"We'll talk things over some other time, then," Robin stated calmly, pulling a communicator out of his pocket and handing it to her. "If you come across any trouble within the next few days, use that to get in touch with us. You should go... we have to get our friends to safety..."

When the two of them stopped talking and Talia ran out of the space needle, Beast Boy looked like he was going to collapse, so Cyborg took over the job and carried Percy back to the Tower while Raven cradled Patty's battered form in her arms. When the blonde girl's broken arms were wrapped up and the twins were safe in the infirmary, everyone went to the common room with reserved expressions. It had been an exhausting and frightening day for all of them, and almost everyone fell asleep within a matter of minutes.

'Almost' being the key word.

Robin stared at the ceiling long after everyone else had passed out, unable to find relief because of all the worries surging through his brain. If he had listened to Raven when she'd screamed for him to stop, the twins wouldn't have gotten hurt so badly. Unintentionally, he felt like he was always hurting the people who were closest to him. Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door and sat up as it opened.

Starfire.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, worriedly ruffling his hair when she walked in and gently sat down next to him.

"No..." she said quietly. "There is nothing wrong with me, but I sense that everything is not alright with you."

"Starfire," the boy murmured, but then high sighed and stared at the floor. "Slade targets everyone we get close to, but every time I go crazy it makes things worse."

"Robin, please... do not blame yourself," Starfire murmured; he felt her hand on his shoulder and looked up to find that she had tears in her eyes. "I hate seeing you feeling the sadness like this… you know that it is not your fault, yes? "

"But—" he tried to protest, only to be cut off by the alien princess.

"Slade has nearly killed you, me, and our friends on many occasions, Robin," the alien princess stated. "This is nobody's fault but his."

"I should have listened to Raven, though!" Robin muttered, clenching his fists in anger; he could still see the twins screaming inside his head... their pain. "She shouted a warning when I tried to free the twins, but I didn't stop! They've only been on our team for a month! They were almost killed because of us!"

"That is true, and you did not listen to her... but I cannot say that I would have listened in the same position," Starfire soothingly explained, moving a little closer to him and squeezing his shoulder with earnest eyes. "You were trying to save our friends because you care for them... I would have done the same thing if I had been faced with that chance. They are a part of our world, now, Robin: they need us to teach them and guide them along the right path."

"But—" Robin started to protest again, but this time he was cut off by her fingers on his lips.

"Hush," she whispered, and her voice sent shivers down his spine. "It hurts to watch you hate yourself."

"Okay, Star," Robin sighed, rubbing his eyes again. He could tell that the alien girl was tired because her breathing slowed and she became more comfortable against him, head on his shoulder and her hand in his. Robin ran his fingers through her long auburn hair and sighed as she fell asleep. He put his arms around the Tamaranian girl and fell asleep as well.


	10. Chapter 9: Matchmaking

**Chapter Six: Matchmaking**

"STOP THE PAIN!" Persephone wailed, bolting upright as terror lanced through her heart. "Stop... the... huh?"

However, agony seared through her body like a wave of fire and she abruptly fell back to her pillow with a high-pitched squeak. Once the throbbing in her body had died away, she discovered that she was lying in a hospital bed with several tubes sticking out of her arms and legs. Percy tried to move her fingers to see whether or not they were okay, but pain spiked through her elbows and she grimaced. The small blonde girl nearly had an aneurism when the mechanical doors unexpectedly whooshed open, involuntarily sitting up again as a result; unfortunately, the pain hit her body a second time and she was forced to lie back down.

Her fears of being captured by an enemy were groundless, however, because Raven walked into the room with a steaming mug in her hands.

Silently taking a seat, the pale girl handed the cup to the blonde and blinked in reluctant amusement.

"Green tea," Raven pointed out, glancing at the mug with a slightly proud expression. "I tried a bit of it today myself... the flavor is surprisingly pleasant."

"Thanks," Percy whispered weakly, struggling to lift her arms and take a drink; her elbows wouldn't allow her to, though, so she sang a few musical notes and sent a gentle wave of air out to Raven's hand, lifting the cup with her powers. Before she could take a sip of her tea, Percy caught sight of her reflection in the mug and froze, almost dropping it by accident: her face was utterly swollen, both of her blue eyes were blackened with bruises, her head was stitched up, and her reddish gold hair was now so long that it hung down past her thighs. All in all, she looked like she'd just been in a terrible accident. "W-what the hell happened to me?!"

"You, your brother, and a bystander with somewhat unique abilities were attacked by Slade," Raven cautiously explained. "Patrokalos is fine: he's sleeping right now."

"I'll take your word for it," Percy mumbled, shaking her head as a sense of exhausted relaxation wash over her; she looked at her bandaged arms and winced, then tried to change the subject about her. "So, if my brother's sleeping, where are all the other Titans?"

"Beast Boy and Cyborg are examining the crime scene," Raven stoically murmured, quirking an eyebrow, "and as you know, I'm sitting right here."

"Well, that much is obvious," Persephone asked, giving her an expression of surprise, "but are you being vague on purpose because Robin isn't with them?"

"You're alarmingly perceptive... yes, he and Starfire are still sleeping," Raven stated, smirking at the blonde with half-lidded eyes. "Come on... I'll show you."

"Wait, how am I supposed to get there?" Persephone asked, frowning in confusion until Raven used her powers to levitate a wheelchair over to the bedside. Once the blonde girl was sitting safely on the chair, Raven pushed her out of the room and down the hall before quietly opening Robin's door. Percy looked in and saw Starfire resting between Robin's arms against the wall on his bed: both of them were sleeping so peacefully that she beamed like a child on Christmas and closed the door.

"So, are they, like… together now?" Persephone breathlessly asked, blue eyes shining. "Did they finally confess their feelings?"

"Nope," Raven deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "That much I'm sure of."

"What?!" Persephone squeaked, shocked at the statement. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Nope," Raven repeated, rolling her violet eyes a second time. "There were no strong emotions last night… except for the night terrors you and Patty were having and Robin beating himself up over Slade, as usual. Quite honestly, it's nothing we haven't seen before."

"She fell asleep in his arms, though!" Persephone squealed, looking totally stupefied. "How have they still not confessed to each other?!"

"Foolish, I know," Raven consented; then she blinked and hastily pulled Percy's chair off to the side. "Be quiet…"

Starfire had stirred in her sleep and woke Robin up, but he blushed violently when he realized that he had been holding her close to his chest all night long. Robin took a deep breath, willing his heart to stop pounding for fear of waking her up, but he knew he had to move thanks to the light coming from his window. He began easing away from her, but she woke up just a little and clung to him… then she slowly opened her eyes and smiled.

"Good morning, Robin," she sighed, looking at his mask with a gentle grin.

"Morning, Starfire," the boy replied, pulling away and stretching slightly. "I have to get up and review the reports about Slade."

"Slade?" Starfire whispered; to his surprise, the girl's face instantly fell and she pushed him away before hovering up into the air. "That cruel, cruel man is the first thing you think of after awakening beside to me? I was so foolish to think that you actually—that you could ever—"

"No, Star," Robin exclaimed, shocked by her sudden reaction. "I didn't mean—"

"On my world, such cruelty would invite _Glurd al rhuunien_ into the heart of a lover!" Starfire interrupted, eyes flashing with green light. "Slade makes you feel the anger and has hurt all of us very badly on many occasions, so why do you act as if I felt no pain when I heard you screaming in your sleep last night?! You once told me that I don't understand, but you will not let me get close enough to attempt such a feat! I have been trying so hard to show you I care! I have tried so hard! Sometimes I feel so close that I cannot stand it when you turn away from me! When it comes to Slade, I'm no longer your friend... whenever he interferes, I become merely another person who needs protecting and saving! I do not need to be saved, Robin! I need... I need... I need _you!"_

Starfire, don't do this…" Robin croaked, expression breaking into pieces. "Please..."

"No!" Starfire squealed, covering her ears to block out his words. "When I woke up and saw that you were still here, I thought you felt for me! All you really care for is Slade, so I am finished Robin! I am done trying to understand! You do not seem to care that you're hurting me, nor that you have been from the start! No!"

"S-Starfire…" Robin whispered, standing in the middle of his room and looking completely thunderstruck when she leapt into the air and flew out into the hall. Rhe redhead didn't even see Persephone and Raven standing outside the door when she locked herself inside her own bedroom. Percy, however, had frozen solid and her pale blue eyes had become blank with horror; after a moment she turned to look at Raven, who appeared to be just as stunned by the alien's heated outburst.

"I'll talk to Robin," Percy said quietly, making the empath blink at her in a dazed manner, "but try to get Starfire up to the roof in about a half hour or so, okay?"

"All right?" the hooded girl quipped, shrugging and walking over to Starfire's door. When she knocked, Persephone blinked her vibrant blue eyes and let out a deep sigh of dismay. Then, with a burst of determination, the angelic blonde tossed a few strands of her thigh-length hair over her shoulders and sang a little melody that pushed the wheelchair into the Boy Wonder's bedroom. Robin glanced up in surprise when she entered, but frowned in concern when he saw who it was.

"What are you doing up?" the boy wonder croaked, looking a little shell-shocked. "Percy, you should be in—"

"Robin, we need to talk," Percy interrupted, cutting off his sentence before he could finish it, "and before you say anything about my condition, I'm fine, so come on."

Ten minutes later, Robin and Percy were facing each other on the roof: however. when the blonde asked him to recount what had happened after she and her brother had passed out at the Needle, she was utterly stunned by everything he told her. Quite honestly, the girl was beginning to wonder how Robin could be so intelligent when it came to stopping bad guys yet so stupid when it came to the love blooming right in front of his eyes. He was beyond dense... almost ridiculously so.

"You seriously don't understand why she's angry with you right now?" Persephone asked incredulously, staring at him as though he were an alien from Mars when he shook his head and stared at the ground. "Ugh… why are boys so dumb when it comes to this kind of thing? I swear, Patty is a total moron when it comes to romance, and that's the _only_ trait we don't have in common! Look... Starfire is hurting inside, Robin!"

"Hurting?" Robin asked, looking genuinely surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Before I answer that, I want you to tell me something: how do you feel whenever she gets close to you?" Persephone asked delicately, leaning back in her wheelchair and staring at him with gentle blue eyes: she was completely aware that not all guys understood this sort of thing, but she'd never expected someone as quick-witted as Robin to be one of them. "You can tell me the truth about this, and I promise that I'll keep it a secret… but it's kind of an important topic. So, spill the beans."

"I... well, I love being close to her," the black-haired boy stuttered, keeping his face carefully blank; it was hard for Percy to believe that not even a month ago, this same blushing boy had been holding a metal staff against her throat. "It doesn't matter, though, because the feeling goes away very, very quickly whenever I think about reality. Deep down I know that no matter how close to me she is, we can never be together, and it… well, it really… hurts."

It was around that same moment when Robin realized just what, exactly, Percy had meant by saying that Starfire was in pain.

"Why not?" Persephone asked simply, blinking once when she noticed the expression that said he'd made the connection. "That's the biggest question."

"Why not… what?" Robin asked, looking incredibly confused. "I don't understand what you mean."

"Why can't you be together?" the blonde girl enunciated, rolling her large blue eyes. "Is there any particular reason?"

"B-because," Robin stammered, obviously flustered by her interrogation, "I don't want to ruin our—"

Persephone immediately cut him off by singing a set of ultra sharp notes: a spray of shimmering water instantly exploded out of the ether as the moisture around her upper torso condensed, obeying the mere sound of her voice. The crystalline liquid swirled into long, vine-like ropes around the startled Titan Leader, encasing his elastic uniform in several liquid bonds. When he glanced up in alarm, the blonde girl cocked an angry eyebrow, sang a few more notes that caused the water to freeze, and used her vocalized control over the ice to slam the Boy Wonder's body against the heating duct directly behind him.

Robin's breath was knocked out of his lungs, but he was more startled by the fury in Percy's eyes than the fact that she had assaulted him.

"Don't you dare even try to tell me you don't want to ruin your friendship, Robin! I'll hit you again if you do!" the blonde girl snapped, and for a moment she looked so much like Terra that he nearly lost his breath a second time. When the boy began to squirm under the brunt of her powers, she shook him a bit with the power of her voice until he stopped moving around. "Look, moron, your friendship is _already_ being ruined because of how clueless you are! She's right; you care _way_ too much about Slade, and this is coming from the girl who's siblings he _murdered!_ I mean, the psycho attacked my brother, nearly killed me, and murdered our only family!"

"But I love her!" Robin cried before he could stop himself; his eyes widened behind his mask and he blushed. "I... I... but..."

"There you have it," Percy said quietly, smiling a little as she released him; she suddenly looked exhausted. "Don't tell me, though; you need to tell _her."_

"Persephone," Robin protested, shaking his head with an awkward expression, "it's not that easy to just—"

"Actually, yes, it is: you're just scared of being rejected," Persephone stated flatly, eyes going half-lidded in amusement when he gawped. "Newsflash, lover-bird! She won't reject you, and even if she did... which she won't... it'd be a lot better for both of you all around to confess and move on rather than worry and accomplish nothing! I mean, seriously, the girl just yelled at you for not caring about her, so how can you _not_ think that she's head over heels for your sorry ass?"

"Well," Robin muttered unhappily, "when you put it like that…"

"Oh, shut up and be a man already!" Percy grumpily sighed, singing a few more notes and shattering the ice that had encased him. "Just do it, okay?"

"I'd say you're crazy," Robin stated blankly, staring at her with a brain-fried expression, "but everything you've said so far has made a little _too_ much sense."

"That's because it's reality, you dork; anyway, good luck… you won't need it," Persephone grumbled, humming a few musical notes that sent her wheelchair rolling safely down the rooftop stairs. Robin sat in silence for several minutes after the blonde girl was gone: in all honesty, Percy's hair growing out had really made the team leader realize how much she and Terra looked alike. The girl looked almost completely identical to the fallen Titan aside from the shape of her nose, her abnormally fair complexion, and her natural blonde hair. Then again, Persephone's mannerisms were so different from the tomboyish earth-hero's that he continuously found himself being thrown off-guard. Every now and then, he would forget that Percy _wasn't_ Terra and subconsciously feel suspicious of the blonde's intentions toward his team.

Which wasn't fair to her, or her brother, at all.

Just as he stood up with these thoughts in mind, Starfire flew through the door leading to the roof.

"Starfire!" Robin cried, voice coming out as nothing more than a squeak; he cleared his throat when she looked at him neutrally. "I have... something important to say."

"Yes?" the alien princess inquired; however, she looked surprised when he strode up to her and took both of her hands in his. "Robin, what are you doing?"

"Starfire, you were right: I care way too much about everything that Slade is planning... I really do, but that doesn't mean I can't change," Robin awkwardly stammered, swallowing hard as his ears turned red; the boy sounded so sincere that Starfire believed him, but she didn't say a word. "I'm sorry... I've been letting him control me even though I'm not under his direct control. You've tried to get close and I've pushed you away, but I don't want to do that anymore, all right?"

"R-Robin?" Starfire asked, voice trailing off when he pulled her into a hug; the redhead pulled away from him just enough to look up at his face when her feet touched the ground in front of him. Then she smiled, drew in close, stopped a second just to feel his breath against her skin, and pressed her lips to his. He held her as she sighed into his mouth, clinging to his neck and running her fingers in his hair. Then she pulled away and said three words: "I love you."

Around that same moment, Percy met Raven at the bottom of the stairs and let her head thump back against the wheelchair, face even paler than usual.

"Remind me not to use my powers on anyone for a while," the blonde girl grumbled tiredly, closing her eyes with a mewl. "I feel extremely drained."

"Uh, why?" Raven droned blankly, staring at her in perplexity from beneath the shadows of her hood. "Did you... use some of your powers on Robin?"

"Well, yeah," the blonde girl sheepishly admitted, wincing a bit before opening her eyes again, "and I, uh, also kind of slammed him into a heating duct."

"If it were anyone but you, that explanation wouldn't be tickling me as much as it's doing right now," Raven stated calmly, mouth twitching upwards a little before her right eye twitched. For several long moments, her shoulders quaked violently as she fought back an enormous snicker; however, the pale empath suddenly stopped moving and glanced up with extremely wide eyes as a surge of powerful emotions blasted down from the rooftop. "Whoa... whoa, whoa, whoa! WHOA!"

"Well?" Persephone asked, triumphantly tossing her newly-long blonde hair. "What's with all the 'whoa'-ing? And is there a reason you look all cock-eyed?"

"I don't know what you told Robin, but it worked! Emotional fireworks are going off up there!" the empath croaked, blinking at her in total shock: she figured that the tiny girl had some serious potential for the matchmaking business if she'd had managed to get Robin and Starfire to confess their love. "I'm amazed... you did it."

"Good, I'm glad the two of them are finally not so awkward," the blonde girl stated, grinning in total satisfaction. "Now, can we go visit my brother, please? Because I'm fairly certain that the idiotic lug's lying awake and beating himself up for letting… our enemies take control of his body. He's most likely crying right now, too."

"He's a crybaby?" Raven instantly asked, blinking down at the girl in amazement. "I never would have guessed."

"When you've been abused, you learn to hide your real emotions until you're alone enough to let them out," Percy stated simply, looking at the ground as a haunted look entered her electric blue eyes. "You can wear any type of mask you want to cover up how you're truly feeling inside, but that's all your face really becomes: a mask. The emotions beneath it will never disappear, no matter how much you want them to."

"You're surprisingly... astute when it comes to things like this," Raven noted, grabbing the handles on her wheelchair and pushing her towards Patty's room. "I never would have figured you'd be thinking about this kind of thing. You have a fairly well-constructed mask yourself, Persephone."

That statement made the blonde girl blink in disbelief.

"That's the pot calling the kettle _black,"_ Percy murmured, twisting around and glancing up at her pale friend when she froze. "You try your hardest to suppress your emotions, too, Raven... and… well, Beast Boy told me that your soul was shattered into fragments or something, but in the end, all of your feelings are completely hidden from your expression. I've discovered that not showing any at all emotion is actually harder to do than letting loose and smiling once in a while after thinking back on everything you taught me. It also helps with my self-control to express how I'm feeling once in a while, even if its only for those who are closest to me… so maybe, _just maybe,_ if you actually let loose and just _grin_ when you find something to be funny, controlling your powers would be a bit easier to manage."

"I'm dead set in my ways and habits," Raven said slowly, looking a bit pensive as she started pushing the wheelchair down the hall once again, "but I can't deny that your claim actually has a bit of merit to it. It's an interesting idea, and surprisingly, I believe it's worthy enough of my time to look into for a while. I'll take what you just told me into consideration, but don't expect any results. Just because I'm considering it doesn't mean I'll actually follow through and change myself."

"Hey, it's the thought that counts," Percy sighed, leaning back and grinning up at the empath in a goofy manner. "After all, I make you consider lots of stuff!"

"I'm going to heal you and Patrokalos when you're done visiting with him," Raven muttered, frowning as she touched the bruises on the pale girl's face. "I don't like the way you look with all of those injuries… for some reason, it really bothers me."

"Yay, no more pain!" Percy giggled, squeezing her eyes shut as an adorably cheesy grin lit up her face. "Thanks, Raven!"


	11. Chapter 10: First Halloween

**Chapter Seven: First Halloween**

It had been more than two weeks since Persephone's full-blown recovery, but ever since the attack she had been trying to convince Patrokalos that it hadn't been his fault: when she finally got the message across that still loved him with everything she had and would always be there no matter what, he slowly started to forgive himself. By the time Halloween was just around the corner, Patty was back to his normal self and was animatedly interacting with everyone on the team.

However, Robin and Starfire hadn't come out about their relationship: they were aware that Raven and Percy knew and thus had no problem holding hands or flirting when the two were around, but if Beast Boy, Patty, or Cyborg were within seeing distance, their relationship was kept on the down-low. Percy and Raven respected it completely: the girls already knew that they'd only meet ridicule and tabloids by telling BB, Patty, and Cy about their new and official love life. Slade hadn't reappeared yet—thankfully, since both twins were still severely traumatized by his latest actions—crime was at an all time low, and the Tower was alive and thriving.

Starfire was spending more time in Robin's room than ever before, and was thoroughly enjoying the closeness between them.

Percy, Patty, and Raven were meditating more often simply to have more chances to talk.

The twins were gaining mastery over their elemental powers _without_ using their voices, but they were both having some problems with accidentally blowing things up during those particular training sessions. Still, overall, things were going extremely well at Titans Tower. The biggest news came on October 18th in the form of an invitation to a Halloween dance: the Titans were all for it once Robin had explained the grim concept of why people celebrated Halloween to Starfire.

They went costume shopping later that week: Starfire got very excited over a princess costume, Beast Boy made a very original green Superman, Raven didn't need to buy much to pull off an excellent vampire, Robin became Robin Hood, and Cyborg used his holograph rings to become the Green Lantern—having bet Beast Boy that he'd be a way better superhero and ignoring Raven when she pointed out that they already _were_ superheroes. Persephone, on the other hand, decided to be Little Red Riding Hood... so Patrokalos instantly chose to be her counterpart: the Big, Bad, and utterly sexy wolf… as many girls stated later on.

After they paid for their costumes, Beast Boy casually walked up to the blonde girl asked if all fairy tale girls were so scrawny.

Percy ended up throwing him into the face-paint stand and the store manager kicked them out.

Surprisingly enough, the dance was at a high school: the Titans were glad that people didn't recognize them so easily, especially since word had gotten out that they were coming. Oddly enough, there were also many people dressed up as the Titans themselves, but Percy and Patrokalos nearly exploded with delight when they saw several couples dressed up like the two of them: all of them were holding hands. They'd never had fans before, so seeing a bunch of kids trying to look like them was insanely cool.

In the first half hour of the dance, Starfire was constantly being hit on until Robin pushed one of the more persistent boys into a jack-o-lantern. The boy-wonder had Starfire all to himself after that little episode, but unfortunately, Starfire "thanked" the boy by draping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately… right in front of Beast Boy, Patty, and Cyborg.

Word was out among the Titans, but BB, Pat, and Cy had the sense not to tell the whole high school.

However, Persephone was surprised by the fact that several boys tried talking to her as well.

Her brother was also thoroughly embarrassed since a bunch of girls crowded around him, trying to start up a conversation, and kept scratching his nose with gentle fingers and a red face: sadly, Percy's amusement changed to annoyance when one boy… ironically enough, the same one who had been shoved into a pumpkin... walked right up to her and put his arms around her shoulders.

Percy sang a few beautiful notes, and with a satisfying 'crack' made from a water-whip, he was sent flying through a life-sized cardboard cutout of the monster from Wicked Scary, the Sequel. Needless to say, the poor boy stayed clear of all girls for the rest of the night. By that time, most of the kids at the dance had figured out who Percy and Patty were, at the very least.

After displaying her inhuman abilities without thinking about the consequences, it was pretty obvious that everyone would figure out who she and her twin brother were. After all, Patty had dressed up as the big bad wolf: Little Red was just waiting to be eaten by him. Just as people began to mob them for a few autographs, six communicators began to beep.

Robin instantly pulled away from Starfire's lips and flipped open his communicator, looking annoyed by the beeping that had just interrupted them. The entire gym went silent and listened as all seven Titans pulled out their communicators: Robin looked up to see that everyone was watching them and rolled his eyes, though nobody saw since he was wearing his mask.

"Titans, trouble!" he shouted, more to entertain the crowd than anything else. Everyone cheered as those who could fly took off, they cheered even louder when Robin and Cyborg ran out the door, and they cheered the loudest when the newest Titans clasped hands and sang a few harmonious notes before blasting off and flipping acrobatically out the nearest window.

"Can't we have… just one night… to ourselves?" Percy whined loudly in between the landings on the rooftops, squeezing her brother's large hand when he huffed a bit in irritation; with identical pouts, the twins bounced over to the Jump City dam.

"Apparently… crime doesn't care… about teenage frat-parties," Patty panted irritably; when they all arrived at the site, the Titans saw that the dam was dark and eerily quiet except for the sound of water rushing through.

"Uh, so what's the deal?" Cyborg asked, looking straight at Robin.

"Somebody's planted some explosives made with components from an old chromium core," the Titan leader explained, shaking his head with a wary expression on his face. "As you all know, they're very unstable so we have to find them—"

"Ah… AH-CHOOOOO!"

Robin was cut off by Starfire's sneezing: the twins were, to put it very, very lightly, totally shocked by it. Starfire's allergies were far more destructive than either one of them could have imagined, and even though the two of them had been warned to avoid her sneezes several months ago, nothing could have prepared the blondes for the explosive force of it.

"I feel rather…" Percy murmured, trailing off and letting out a squeaky sneeze of her own that caused a puff of soot to fly away.

"Singed," Patrokalos finished, blue eyes going wide with surprise when he saw that he was now completely black.

"Aw man!" Beast Boy howled in dismay. "Next time you're gonna sneeze, please warn us!"

"I apologize," Starfire sniffed, rubbing her nose. "My allergies are most likely being triggered by the explosives."

"Scan for the explosives," Robin commanded, looking up at Cyborg.

"I hope we don't have to fight anyone tonight," Patty grumbled, tugging on his wolf tail with a scowl. "My costume's riding up…"

"You should talk!" Beast Boy snorted, eyeing him in dismay. "I'm the one with my underwear on the outside!"

"Don't forget the tights," Raven sarcastically drawled.

"Yeah, and the t—hey!" Beast Boy squawked, turning on Raven, who shrugged even though she was smirking. Patty's cheeks instantly turned bright pink and he hastily averted his eyes, clutching at the front of his costume so quickly that Percy glanced up in surprise. She shared a glance with Raven and immediately understood that the empath had been aware of it.

"I've got a lock!" Cyborg exclaimed. "There are three, so I'll send their locations to your communicators."

"Beast Boy and Cyborg take the first one," Robin instantly rapped out, taking charge like always. "Raven, Patty, and Percy can take the second, and Star… well, you and I are going for the third. All right, Titans, GO!"

"Gee, what a surprise," Cyborg laughed. "Starfire and Robin are together."

"Can it, tin can," Robin called good-naturedly as he and Starfire walked through the colossal entrance to the dam's massively-constructed inner workings. The confined space between the walls of concrete, and located above the generators and turbines, was nothing more than a complex network of catwalks. BB and Cy were on top, while Raven, Percy, and Patty were down below: Robin and Starfire were in the middle, all of them walking in different directions.

As the Boy Wonder walked next to the alien princess, he couldn't help but notice how much closer to him she was walking now in comparison to a few weeks ago. He smiled at her: she had never been inside a dam before and was looking around curiously. However, when Starfire suddenly gasped and gripped Robin's arm with a bone-crushing hold, he followed her finger when she pointed ahead: Slade was bent over an explosive device, but Robin's eyes narrowed.

The maniacal villain seemed different somehow, but he waved it off and ran forward.

When Slade saw him and ran, Starfire called the others on her communicator. The other five Titans had already successfully destroyed the explosives they had been sent to find when Starfire called them on the other line, sounding frantic.

They caught up just as Robin tackled Slade and ripped off his mask.

"Who are you?!" Robin shouted at the boy in his late teens, who was currently quailing under Robin's gaze. "You're not Slade!"

"Uh… Trick-or-Treat?" the boy said.

"You impersonated our arch-nemesis to blow up a dam?!" Robin roared, punching the boy in the face. "Do you not even realize what the man you've dressed up as has done to all of us?! That man murdered the family of our newest members!"

"Robin, stop!" Cyborg shouted when his leader began beating the teenager up; he showed no signs of stopping.

Percy and Patty had been bouncing toward the boy wonder when they heard his statement and tumbled to the catwalk in a painful heap, both of their blue eyes wide with shock and mortification. Still, they tried to regain their sense of dignity and slowly helped each other up despite the obvious pain in their expressions: they had lost their sisters so recently that the memory itself was like a horrifying nightmare that had somehow taken on a tangible form. Starfire ran forward and crouched next to Robin when the thrashed teenage boy began to cry, and she grabbed his arm with both of hers, holding on tightly.

"Robin, please," she cried, shaking him, "don't do th—"

She stopped when Robin turned on her and wrenched his arm from her grasp, staring at her fiercely. The girl instantly backed away, tan face turning a sickly shade of white: both of them remembered the last time he had been this angry.

_"You are hurting me…"_

_"Slade ran right by you. How could you let him get away?!"_

_"But, Robin, there was no one there!"_

Starfire would never forget that night: for the first time in her life, she had been afraid of Robin; afraid that he would hurt her more than he already had. She snapped back to the present and saw Robin staring at her, no longer angry.

He looked… lost.

"Starfire…" he whispered, sounding utterly scared; she had never heard fear in Robin's voice, so she didn't know how to react to the sound of it. "I'm so sorry… I can't believe I did it again. You're afraid of me right now."

"No, Robin!" Starfire hastily lied. "I am not afraid of you!"

"You don't have to lie to cover up for me, Starfire," the Titan Leader muttered. "I hurt you, and even now… I still can't forgive myself for doing it. I hurt your arm, I made you cry, and now I'm doing it all over again. Just, please, believe me when I say that I love you. I promised I'd always protect you, but I didn't protect you from myself."

The Titans watched in dismayed silence: Starfire and Robin had never told anyone that he had hurt her, but even though they didn't really understand what he was talking about, they didn't ask for any details.

"I forgive you Robin. I feel too much for you to care about what has happened in the past," Starfire whispered calmly, "but please, don't be angry with me when you are angry with Slade. I am not the one that anger should be directed at, yes?"

"I could never be angry with you," Robin muttered, hugging her with a sad expression.

Starfire felt her body turn weak like rubber when he pulled her into his arms, just like always. She grabbed his shoulders for support and let her lips touch his, vibrant green eyes closed rapturously. When he drew her in the rest of the way, kissing her gently, Cyborg dragged the Slade look-a-like out of the dam and grabbed the twins by their collars since their eyes had gone blank after the mentioning of their murdered siblings.

"We'll leave them alone for a while," he mumbled, glancing down at the blondes. "Are you two okay?"

"Peachy," they stated at the same time, although their voices had gone oddly blank. "Just... peachy."

Sadly, this was far from the truth.


End file.
